St Vitus' Dance
by GuardianSaiyoko
Summary: A collection of Phoenix Wright stories. Multiple pairings, but mostly Phoenix and Edgeworth.
1. Actual Beds

**Disclaimer: **For those of you who've read Whitewater, this is similar but with Phoenix Wright- a collection of stories in all genres since they're relatively short and I don't want to go cluttering up pages with them. There's a difference- these are all written for prompts on the Phoenix Wright Kink Meme on LiveJournal, which isn't so much a kink meme anymore as... well... a meme. Stories'll be preceded by their prompt; in most cases I didn't write the prompt, and since the meme is anonymous I don't know who did. If you want credit for the prompt, uh, tell me and I'll edit for it? Most cases, because I do hit myself with plot bunnies fairly often on accident.

I know I still have Whitewater and Hearts to work on, but I've gotten stalled on both. I'll finish'em, don't worry.

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**001.**** Actual Beds **

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_Prompt: Finals week has left me with a desperate need for fluff. Or crack. Or crackfluff. ANY OF THOSE WOULD BE FINE WITH THIS ANON._

_I haven't seen this, I don't think- Phoenix __actually gets evicted from his apartment. Miles needs to talk to him, about a case or anything else I'm not picky, and finds out he's been living in his office for however long. Days, weeks, months, whatever works for you. Miles attempts to remedy the situation while Phoenix is trying to avoid admitting he needs any help.  
_  
_GO GO ANON RANGERS?_

* * *

Phoenix tugged the frayed sleeves of his jacket down farther. It really wasn't warm enough for this weather- worn cotton and polyester, a gift from his grandparents an unknown number of years ago, and littered with stains. It never had quite fit right. 

It was also the warmest thing he owned, and he definitely couldn't afford to replace it now, he thought tiredly as he jiggled the key in the lock. Sure, it was past eight o'clock in the evening, but if anyone saw him entering the office he supposed he could just say he wanted to look over old case files. His office didn't actually _have_ any old case files in it but only Edgeworth, Maya, and himself knew that.

Edgeworth wasn't likely to see him entering the office this late. He already knew why he was here. And in all likelihood, Maya was already in the office, and anyway she knew as well.

Sure enough almost as soon as he got the door shut behind him he was enveloped in a hug. "Nick! You're ho- back!" She let go and drew back and smiled sheepishly at the slip-up.

He smiled tiredly at her. "Yeah, I'm back. I brought groceries." He held up a bag and her eyes lit up as she took it from him and went to set it on Mia's desk. (It would always be _Mia's_ desk, not his.) "There isn't a whole lot in there," Phoenix cautioned as Maya pulled out a carton of ice cream with a grin, her eyes sparkling. "It has to last us the week, Maya."

She made a face at him as she moved to put the ice cream and anything else that needed to be kept cold in the mini fridge. "I know, I know. You don't have to keep reminding me!"

"Except the ice cream," Phoenix amended, and spending the little bit extra that they couldn't afford on the (thankfully on sale) Steel Samurai brand ice cream was made worth it by the way Maya's eyes sparkled again. "That needs to be eaten right away before it can melt." Up until Maya had entered his life he'd always thought he'd been spoiled as an only child but now he wished he could have grown up knowing that this was what it was like to have a little sister.

He'd been embarrassed when she came to visit unexpectedly and found out his current living arrangements. After months of not being able to pay rent, his superintendent had decided enough was enough and ace attorney or not he was going to pay or he was going to be evicted.

Needless to say he'd gotten evicted.

Maya had taken all this in stride, even (somehow) acquiring a mini fridge for the office (through means he wasn't sure he wanted to know). They'd actually managed to budget out enough money to continue to afford the building as well as for a minimum of groceries, but if someone didn't pay them soon he wasn't sure how much longer they could hold out.

Besides, Maya had to be getting tired of sleeping on the couch, and he _knew_ he was tired of sleeping on the floor, and the office shower was hardly ideal, and he was fast running out of clean clothes.

It should probably be noted around here that Murphy seemed to harbour either a great hatred of Phoenix, or a great love of seeing Phoenix squirm. The reason this should be noted around here is this- he had forgotten to lock the door. Now in the normal scheme of things, Phoenix often forgot to lock the door, and would often get up in the middle of the night and stumble to it and make sure it was _now_ locked and wonder vaguely if he was going to get himself shot or kidnapped or something some night and then collapse back onto the vague nest of blankets on the floor and go back to sleep. This happened maybe twice a week since he'd been sleeping in the office.

But because Murphy's law loved/hated Phoenix, this night, while his back was turned and he was assisting Maya in finding places for the bread and cheese and apples in the tiny fridge, the door opened and the very last person he wanted to see at this time and in these circumstances stepped through. There were groceries out on the desk. Maya was clearly trying to play Tetris with more groceries in a mini fridge. The couch had sheets and a pillow on it and the door between the two rooms was open and the pile of blankets serving as a makeshift bed for Phoenix was also clearly visible.

Edgeworth raised an eyebrow. "So this is why you've been so distracted in court recently."

"Er…uh..t-that is…objection?" Phoenix stammered.

Maya rolled her eyes as she placed the last of the food in the fridge and shoved past him. "Hi there, Mr. Edgeworth! We were having some trouble with rent so, yes, we've been staying here. You won't tell anyone, right? Nick says the zoning laws won't really allow us to live here and I could go back to Kurain but Nick hasn't got anywhere else to stay." She beamed at him. "So you won't tell! Right?"

Edgeworth's other eyebrow raised as he continued to stare at Phoenix, even as he addressed Maya.  
"…No. I will not tell anyone."

Phoenix's shoulders sagged in relief.

"_Provided_," Edgeworth continued, raising his voice, and Phoenix spared a moment to curse Murphy. "That you both come stay with me until you _can_ afford rent. This…" He swept a hand to indicate the office. "The state of this place is… thoroughly unprofessional, not to mention patently ridiculous."

_Says the guy wearing ruffles_, Phoenix thought sulkily. He crossed his arms. "We don't need your charity, Edgeworth."

"Uh, Nick? Yes we _do_," Maya whispered loudly. Phoenix tried very hard to ignore her and to ignore the smug smirk spreading over Edgeworth's face.

"Look, it's just temporary," he continued, in what he hoped would be the beginning of a spur-of-the-moment yet very well reasoned statement. Then he had to stop there because he couldn't think of anything to add that wouldn't be a blatant lie. "…It's no big deal or anything, we've been doing fine." Like _that, _he thought in exasperation.

"_I'll_ take you up on your offer, Mr. Edgeworth!" Maya…chirped. Surely, that was the only word for that tone of voice. "Even if Nick's going to be stupid and stubborn about it," she added, stomping on Phoenix's foot and making him hiss in pain.

"_Both_of you are coming to stay with me, or neither one of you is," Edgeworth countered. "I have more than enough room, after all." His smirk softened into a real smile and Phoenix not-so-subtly caught his breath. "As well as real food, hot showers, and actual beds."

"_Niii_ick!" Maya pleaded.

He folded his arms and looked away and tried to pretend he didn't look entirely too much like a certain smug prosecutor while he did that. "I.. fine."

It wasn't until later, after he and Maya had gathered up their (very meagre) belongings, and he was slipping out the door as Maya skipped out to Edgeworth's car, that Phoenix started thinking this might actually be worth it.

Because as Edgeworth brushed past him on the way out the door, he whispered, "Of course, I do only have two bedrooms. I suppose we'll just have to share."

* * *

**GuardianSaiyoko:** And... Happy Valentine's Day! I have quite a lot of these written up already, so you can expect this to be updated fairly often. 

Title doesn't really have anything to do with the stories, it just has particular meaning to me, so look it up if you're curious. If you have any questions regarding that (or hell, anything else) note me and I'll do my best to answer you.


	2. Blinded By The Light

**Disclaimer:** Radio station had a We Love the 80s Weekend. Couldn't resist!

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**002. Blinded By The Light**

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_Prompt: _

_Okay, many people do things by themselves that they don't do in front of other people. No, it's seriously not dirty, but you can make it so if you wish. :P  
I want a story where Edgeworth is working late one night and listening to the radio, switching channels or something when he finds an oldies song (Has to be oldies!)that he must absolutely jam to (even though he may originally try to fight it.) Rocking head, singing, getting up and full on dancing anything goes as long as he is totally rocking out in some form. Then Wright busts in for some reason such as a break in the case, new evidence, etc. (It could be be any character, but I'd prefer Phoenix)_

_I wanna see some interaction and how the two characters would react to this cracktastic scene. Would Edgeworth act as if it never happened, would the person who walks in be horrified? Up to you anon!_

_Super Special Awesome points if any of these scenarios included:  
-A fluffy memory that ties little Edgeworth to the song  
-Phoenix's secret jealousy of Miles' dancing and/or singing abilities (Perhaps bitter he wasn't cut for Musical Theatre?) _

* * *

Phoenix paused with one hand poised to knock. His ears _had_ to be playing tricks on him… 

…didn't they?

Against his better judgment, he lowered his hand and edged the door ever-so-slightly open instead.

"Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night! Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night! Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night!"

Phoenix almost dropped the case files.

Miles Edgeworth was rocked back on his heels against his desk, holding a fountain pen like a microphone, and singing.

At least he'd had the presence of mind to close the curtains.

"Madman drummers bummers, Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat…. In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat! With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin' kinda older, I tripped the merry-go-round, with this very unpleasin', sneezin' and wheezin, the calliope crashed to the ground!"

As Edgeworth threw his head back and positively _belted_ out the next line of the song, Phoenix was torn between jealousy at his friend's ability to sing and the strong desire to have a video camera with him right now. Even a tape recorder would've done.

"_The calliope crashed to the ground_!"

Phoenix edged inside the office and let the door click softly closed behind him. Thoughtfully, since he couldn't believe Edgeworth hadn't done so in the first place, he also locked it. Edgeworth was thankfully too preoccupied to notice he wasn't alone in the office any longer.

"But she was…_Blinded_ by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night! Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night! Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night!"

Admittedly it was a catchy song but Phoenix would never have expected _Edgeworth_ to be singing it. Maybe it had some meaning to the prosecutor that Phoenix wasn't aware of?

"Some silicone sister with a manager mister told me I got what it takes; she said 'I'll turn you on sonny to something strong, play the song with the funky break' and go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart to see if it was safe outside- and little Early-Pearly came by in her curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride, _asked me if I needed a ride_!"

At that moment Edgeworth threw his head back again, but this time he opened his eyes…. and froze when he saw Phoenix leaning against the office door, grinning smugly.

"Wr…Wright!" The radio kept playing, but now it was only a backdrop to the conversation.

"Working late, Edgeworth?" Phoenix crossed the room and laid the case files he'd brought on the desk. "I thought I'd bring this by since this new evidence doesn't corroborate with the witness' testimony." He looked up at Edgeworth. "I didn't think you'd be busy."

"You will speak of this to no one," Edgeworth snapped, flustered. "_No one_, Wright."

"Manfred Mann's Earth Band? I would never have suspected it of you, Edgeworth." _Damned if I'm not going to enjoy this_. "This isn't what I thought you'd listen to, if you had the radio on at all. Moonlight Sonata, maybe. Devil's Trill. But_Blinded By The Light_?" Phoenix smirked. "Never would have dreamed it."

"So you don't remember, then," Edgeworth said as he sat down at the desk and picked up the case files.

"Remember what?" Phoenix straightened briefly before flopping on the couch. He watched, enthralled, as Edgeworth's eyes positively flew over the case files. He could watch Edgeworth read for hours. And he chose to ignore the stalker-ish connotations of that thought.

"Why I know that song at _all_, Wright," Edgeworth growled as he flipped through the reports. "It was _your_ damn fool idea to teach it to me. Yours and Larry's."

"What do you mean, it was my…" But Phoenix trailed off as a memory sprang to mind…when they'd been children, when they'd stayed the night at Edgeworth's house due to a storm, when an indulgent Gregory Edgeworth had laughed at his son's friend's attempts to get Miles to listen to something _other_ than Mozart. The local radio channel had been having a We Love the Eighties Weekend… Phoenix smiled at the memory of himself and Larry dancing around and singing and hitting each other with pillows while Mr. Edgeworth leaned against the doorframe and chuckled, poor serious Miles looking absolutely baffled until his father had stepped in and started teaching the boys songs from the eighties.

"Oh, yeah," Phoenix said, and his smile softened considerably. "That was a good weekend." He eyed Edgeworth thoughtfully. "You should come over to my apartment, we can have Maya and Pearls over and try doing that again," he suggested wickedly.

It was worth being chased out of the office to see the look on Edgeworth's face.

It was even more worth it when, the next weekend, he opened his door to a red-faced Miles Edgeworth, led him in, and resolved to trick him into singing Like A Virgin even if copious amounts of wine were necessary.

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**GuardianSaiyoko:** Heyla. I'm not ever going to say 'I need X reviews before I continue this,' because that's ridiculous, but uh... It also seems ridiculous to continue if I haven't got so much as _one_ review. So... review, please? 


	3. The Other Side of 6 AM

**Disclaimer: **There is a really, really awesome park across from my apartment. I went out and played in it in the snow at dawn because I am insane. It was great.

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**003. The Other Side of Six A.M.**

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_Prompt: I love slice of life anime - y'know, the kind of thing where you have 24 episodes of characters talking about and doing random stuff together, but nothing actually happens. Except, it gets you thinking about what they're chatting about, and you can't help going "Oh yeah, that's so true, I never thought about that!"_

_So, I want PW slice of life please! Steel Samurai, burgers, Pess, paperwork, Gumshoe's noodles, I don't mind at all - random snippets of conversation, a description of a scene, whatever the hell you want._

* * *

Phoenix does not normally see this side of six am; he often finds himself approaching it from the other side, but to _get up_ this early? Blasphemy. Six am is for sleeping, or at least for making the attempt. Even Miles and Maya should know that. 

No, although he is sure this was Maya's idea, Miles has asked him to set the alarm for six ack emma and they _both_ know he isn't going to refuse Miles. Not this time of year, anyway.

So that was how Phoenix came to be trudging through fresh snow at six-fifteen in the morning, shivering despite layers of clothing, wondering where the hell they were going. He was giving Pearls a piggy-back ride- not the chore it could have been, given that the two of them both stayed considerably warmer that way- and Maya followed along behind him, whistling cheerfully, as Edgeworth stomped a path through the snow in the lead.

He wouldn't have expected Maya to have so much enthusiasm for getting up so early. As it turned out, both she and Pearls were used to it from their spirit medium training, leaving Phoenix as the only one unfamiliar with the hour.

It wasn't until they reached the park, and Pearls slid off his back and ran for the swings with a laugh muffled by the snow, and he raised his gaze to see the sky streaked with red and orange and pink and purple and blue that it dawned on him exactly why all three his companions seemed so light-hearted. Even Edgeworth, who was standing and smiling at the scene in front of him- the snow had fallen only the night before and theirs were the only steps that marred it. Phoenix inched towards the equipment as Maya grabbed Pearls around the middle and swung her up and around through the air, both of them laughing wildly.

A low chuckle was his only warning before a gloved hand grabbed his and they were running. Edgeworth led him in a loop around the basketball pole, past a set of wind chimes set into the equipment that whistled musically at them as they sped past, under the monkey bars and over the bottom of a slide. It wasn't long before Phoenix was laughing, too, and soon enough the two of them collapsed in a breathless heap on top of the equipment. Below them, Pearl had wriggled away from Maya to get to the swing and Maya was pushing her as she swung her legs back and forth, face screwed up in an expression of solemn determination.

"One for the money! Two for the show! Three to get ready, and four! To! _Go_!" On 'go' Maya pushed _hard_ and darted under her cousin's swing as the girl flew high into the air. Maya had been shouting, but the snow dampened the sound and made the park itself feel surreal, as if it had no boundaries and no one existed but them.

"Look," Miles murmured in Phoenix's ear, as he nudged him gently. Phoenix looked where he indicated and saw that the sky was awash in brilliant colours with the sunrise. It was breathtaking.

He thought he'd probably be seeing this side of six am more often from now on.

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**GuardianSaiyoko:** Some of these will be much shorter than others, by the way. Also, while a lot of them are Phoenix x Miles, some of them aren't; many are no pairing and/or friendship. At least one is Phoenix/Maya because I couldn't resist the prompt. 

The original M rating was in view of later chapters and I didn't think anything of it because I review M fics fairly often. If you feel those later chapters warrant bringing it back up, please let me know.


	4. Plead the Fifth

**Disclaimer:** I think I've got more than one mentor who'd happily skin me alive for the _sheer amount of inaccuracy_ in this. Ah well. There is angst ahead, guys! But, you can expect a really fluffy couple of chapters after this one. I hate to have too much angst.

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**004. Plead the Fifth**

* * *

_Prompt: I know something similar to this has already been done, but I REALLY want to see a Phoenix/Miles where Phoenix is mute. Use whatever reasoning you like._

* * *

He was measuring it in increments. 

It had been a month- a month since they'd gone out for a quiet dinner, since Maya had cheerfully winked at Phoenix and then gone off to give them some privacy, since they'd stumbled out into the street with Phoenix pleasantly drunk and hanging to Miles as he hailed a cab. Since an enraged man had swung out of nowhere to come after Phoenix with a knife. Miles had recognized him, it was someone the two of them had worked together to get a guilty sentence on in the past, but Miles hadn't been fast enough to stop the man from scoring his knife against Phoenix's throat. The cab had shown up a moment too late, when the attacker had fled and Miles was on the ground beside Phoenix with his cravat pressed against the wound to try frantically to stop the bleeding- when Phoenix's eyes had been wide with shock and pain and he started to say something and Miles shushed him because speaking made the blood pump harder- when he had frantically-yet-carefully levered Phoenix into the backseat of the cab and kept the pressure on his neck as a voice much too high and panicked to be his demanded that they get to a hospital,_ any_hospital, _right now_.

It had been three and a half weeks since Phoenix had woken up from his surgery, since he had smiled tiredly up at Edgeworth and Maya and Gumshoe all in varying positions in his recovery room since the staff had been unable to convince them to leave- Maya curled up like a cat in a visitor's chair, Gumshoe asleep on the floor against the bed, Edgeworth sitting rigid in a chair beside Phoenix (he hadn't slept in days). Phoenix had felt gingerly at the bandaging around his neck, wincing, but had slipped back into sleep before saying anything and Miles felt like a coward for not having spoken up.

Three weeks and three days, and Miles had been sure to be out of the room when Gumshoe told him.

Three weeks since that damnably silent ride in Edgeworth's car when Phoenix had opened his mouth to ask a question, noticing they weren't heading towards his apartment, and then snapped his mouth shut as the realization hit him again and he withdrew into himself a little more. Three weeks since Edgeworth had killed the engine outside his two-story house and explained, quietly, carefully looking anywhere but at Phoenix and wishing to himself that Gumshoe was here too or that Maya- uncharacteristically silent in the backseat- could help him with this. Three weeks since he had told Phoenix that the hospital staff had judged him mentally unsound and told Edgeworth and Gumshoe that one of them, or someone they trusted, would have to undertake legal custody of Phoenix. Edgeworth, Gumshoe, and Maya were all highly suspicious of this judgement and didn't agree with it at all, but the hospital was refusing to release him unless it was into someone else's care, and while Edgeworth had been paying the hospital bills he couldn't continue to do so. So Edgeworth was now responsible for Phoenix (and by proxy, Maya) and Gumshoe had been moving things from his apartment to Miles' house for the past few days.

Phoenix had barely come out of his room, Miles' old guest room, for another week after that. Miles had stumbled into the bathroom one morning bleary-eyed from lack of sleep to find Phoenix curled up on the counter and staring at the mirror, fingers tracing lightly over his scarred neck, and Miles had stumbled silently back out of the bathroom. Maya had been leaving books on sign language and lip reading scattered all over the house and he hadn't bothered to clean any of them up (though he did read a few) and he was fairly certain through the haziness of insomnia that Gumshoe had been sleeping on his couch. Miles wasn't entirely certain how he felt about this at first- he'd never had roommates before- but it seemed to make Phoenix feel better so he didn't mention it. Gumshoe and Maya could both sleep here if they wanted to. Food for the four of them wasn't yet a problem, although it would be soon.

week and a half since Phoenix had come quietly into his room sometime in the early hours of the morning and apologized for waking him up with a tired but expressive shrug (Miles hadn't been sleeping) and then scribbled on the pad of paper by Miles' bed (they'd taken to scattering those around the house as well, though Phoenix hadn't been using them until now.) _Miles,_ the untidy scrawl said, _how do I work if I can't object or cross-examine?_

Three weeks again that Miles had been dreading that question. You can't, Phoenix, he said haltingly, and he hated himself for it when Phoenix visibly crumpled. Against his better judgment he had tugged Phoenix down onto the bed with him and held him as Phoenix finally started crying. Tears of frustration and anger, mostly, and by the time he was done he was utterly exhausted and ended up falling asleep on Miles' bed and in Miles' arms and he couldn't bring himself to wake him _now_, and somehow Phoenix had stayed there the next two nights as well and by the time it occurred to either of them that maybe he should sleep in his own room at least part of the time Gumshoe had already staked a claim on the empty guest room with the other one occupied by Maya and Miles wasn't about to make Phoenix sleep on the couch.

Three days since Maya had determined that from seven to ten every evening they would all gather in the living room and attempt to teach each other sign language and lip reading using all the resources the four of them could gather as Maya explained enthusiastically that she could be Phoenix's translator for court. At ten, of course, Steel Samurai reruns were on, and Phoenix and Gumshoe both sighed and joined Maya and himself in watching them.

This morning Miles had woken to the smell of tea and bacon and eggs and the sound of muted laughter and realized he'd slept solidly for a full night for the first time since he couldn't remember when. He lay in bed and listened to the banging of pots from the kitchen and felt like he had a family again. Rolling over, he spotted a note on his dresser in the now-familiar scrawl.

_ Miles,  
It's not your fault._

Smiling faintly, Miles rose and went to join the others for breakfast.

* * *

Phoenix forgot. He surprised himself, actually, with just how _often_ he forgot- but then when he saw Maya or Gumshoe or Miles, _saying_ something to them was second nature. It wasn't so difficult to adjust with Miles, not after years of communicating only through letters and that without any replies at all, but Maya? He was _used_ to arguing with Maya, and it was only after he felt his throat and mouth move and realized there was nothing but air and the occasional squeaky rasping sound escaping that he remembered the edge she had over him in their arguments now. She was good about it, of course- she'd give him the time to write down a counter-argument- but it wasn't the same. He actually thought he was handling it, as well as he could be expected to anyway, until the day Gumshoe and Edgeworth couldn't put off returning to work any longer and he'd absentmindedly clicked on the stereo for white noise. Maya had left to check on Pearls, and though she'd promised to be back by evening the house was still very quiet with Phoenix as the lone occupant.

Phoenix had never been a singer, of course. Not by any means. He had, though, always enjoyed singing along with the radio in his office or his apartment- which was what he tried unthinkingly to do now.

Only he didn't have an apartment of his own anymore, and very likely not an office either, and he certainly no longer had a voice to sing with. He sank down beside the stereo cabinet and ran his fingers lightly over his neck, his newest nervous habit, as he tried again and again and without success to force more than air through his scarred throat as his eyes began to blur with tears.

Miles found him there when he came home.

* * *

"I don't know what else to do," Miles found himself saying quietly two days later, to the girl seated across the coffee table. "I am… worried. And, more than that, I am afraid that Wri…that Phoenix will come to resent how much in his life I am, now." He paused and looked away, his fist clenched into his sleeve, before looking back with grim determination. "Miss Fey. Am I really to understand that Phoenix has no one to whom he can go when he is badly injured? Throughout this entire ordeal, I've yet to hear his family mentioned even once. That strikes me as quite odd."

Mia Fey, seated across him quite comfortably in her sister's body, set her tea down and looked at him in concern. "You mean he's never told you?"

Edgeworth refrained from making a snide remark and simply shook his head.

"Mr. Edgeworth," Mia said gently, "Nick doesn't _have_ any family. From what he's told me, he grew up in an orphanage- he had no family even when you knew him as a child." She smiled, very slightly. "Why else did you think he latched on so strongly to you and Larry when you defended him?"

Miles shifted uncomfortably. "He told you about that?"

"He told Maya," Mia corrected him. "But once you're dead, there's not much to do besides watch over your loved ones, and I had already asked Maya to look after Phoenix- they were in one place. I heard the story when Maya did." Her smile grew. "I suppose it's incorrect of me, really, to say that Nick doesn't have a family- say rather, he doesn't have a _biological_ family. He certainly has a great many people who love him."

She levelled a knowing gaze at him and Miles flushed. "That's all very well," he said hastily, "That answers my worries about his family, at any rate. He-" Miles hesitated. "-He has one here. But the problem I am having now is that he is clearly unhappy and depressed, and I am not at all sure what to do about it."

Mia continued to gaze at him for a long moment, then sighed and took up her tea again. "I think, Mr. Edgeworth- Miles- that you have an idea of your own. You just need to remember that just because Phoenix can't _speak_ does not mean that you can't _listen_."

A week later, Miles led Phoenix from his car and up to the entrance of Wright and Co. Law Offices. Phoenix, who had been told Miles had something he wanted to show him, gave him a hurt look.

Until Miles showed him the door, where _Wright and Co._ had been replaced with _Wright and Edgeworth._

The hug Phoenix gave him nearly knocked him over.

* * *

**Guardian:** Point of interest, I screwed up my voice very badly while in the midst of writing this. It didn't go back to normal for well over a week. I'd been visiting friends whose favourite hangout is the local hookah bar and since I don't normally smoke, ever, the smoke from the hookah made me have difficulty talking normally for quite some time. Irony likes to point and laugh at me, I think.

Next chapter should be up more quickly, because now there needs to be fluff.


	5. Card Games and Old Friends

**Disclaimer:** There be fluff ahead! I really liked writing this. Having ended up with a total of four brothers instead of two I couldn't resist the prompt.

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**005. Card Games and Old Friends**

* * *

_Prompt: Pure friendship love. Between Phoenix and Miles, please._

_I'm meaning being practically joined at the hip, falling asleep next to each other after spending hours talking about nothing, being so close that everyone ASSUMES they're in a relationship. They don't actually want to sleep with each other, but they have the kind of closeness that comes with a good relationship._

* * *

When Maya went through the living room on her way to get her laundry- it was Gumshoe's turn to do it, but somehow nothing ever made it out of the dryer, with the result that whomever's clothes had last been washed lived out of the dryer until their turn to do laundry- she passed Edgey and Nick sprawled out on the floor, shoulder to shoulder, playing with a deck of cards with a quilt draped over them both and a bowl of Christmas cookie on the floor beside Phoenix. 

A moment later she walked backwards back into the living room, amused.

They were playing Solitaire together.

"Wright," Edgeworth murmured. "Black six on the red seven, your side."

"…I see it." Nick reached across Edgeworth to grab the deck from his friend's other side and caught Maya's eyes as he glanced up. He grinned. "Hey, Maya. Gumshoe did your laundry last?"

"Yeah," she replied, and giggled at them both. "…You two are cute."

Edgeworth looked up at her, cookie hanging from his mouth, and raised an eyebrow as Nick laid down the black six and passed the deck back.

"You're playing _team_ solitaire," Maya pointed out, smiling. "It's cute. Did you guys_sleep_ out here?"

Nick looked around at the detritus of board games surrounding them and smiled sheepishly. "Well, not exactly. I kicked Edgeworth's ass in Monopoly and then he decided he wanted to even the score, so we played War… and then Scrabble… and then Pictionary, and Balderdash, and…" He shrugged. "It just kinda kept going after that."

"Wright, despite whatever misconceptions you may have about the rules of Monopoly, moving into the bank is _not_ allowed." Edgeworth glared at him as he moved a Jack to a Queen and passed the deck back, but as he was still smiling the glare lost most of its bite.

"I was the banker!" Phoenix protested. "It was _my_ bank!"

"That doesn't mean you can _move into it_ when you go bankrupt. You lost a good hour before that game ended." He looked up as Pess trotted into the room, yawning, and went over to his water dish. "Hello, Pess. Pearl must be awake."

Sure enough, Pearls came into the room a moment later, following Pess out of her bedroom. Phoenix was continually trying to coax Pess to come sleep by him, or at least by Edgeworth again, but the Great Pyrenees would have none of it. If Pearls wasn't there that night, because she and Maya had gone back to Kurain or for any other reason, Pess would sleep on Edgeworth's bed but otherwise he couldn't be persuaded away from Pearl.

Halfway through the living room, Pearl stopped and turned to glare suddenly at where Phoenix and Miles were sprawled out on the floor. "Mr. Nick!" she scolded, crossing her arms. "What are you doing down there on the floor with Mr. Edgeworth? Today is a holiday! You should be spending it with Mystic Maya!"

Phoenix glanced at Maya for help, but she was leaning against the fireplace with a smile and giving him a look that said _You're on your own, pal_ so clearly he'd have suspected her of channelling Gumshoe had he not known very well that Gumshoe was out buying their dinner (with Miles' paycheck).

"I _am _spending it with Maya, Pearls," Phoenix said helplessly, pointing to the fireplace. "Look, she's right there. She was just going to go change out of her pyjamas and then come join us- right, Maya?" He gave her the best puppy-dog eyes he could muster, which, since he had clearly not gone to sleep at any point the night before, were not all that impressive.

They worked on Maya anyway. She stepped away from the fireplace and smiled at Pearl. "Come on, Pearly, let's both go change and then we can come back and all play games til Gumshoe gets back! All right?"

Pearl looked reluctantly between the two lawyers on the floor and her cousin, before screwing up her face in something that wasn't quite a pout and wasn't quite a smile. "Okay, Mystic Maya. But then you're gonna sit with Mr. Nick right? Because _you're_ his special someone!" she added quickly with a glare at Edgeworth. For his part, Edgeworth looked as if he was trying very hard _not_ to look amused.

"Pearly…" Maya started, but Pearl didn't give her a chance to finish.

The girl stomped her foot down and said belligerently, "_Not_ Mr. Edgeworth! And I don't think that Mr. Nick should… should… che-eet… on you with him like this!"

Torn between laughter and dropping his head into his hands in despair, Phoenix compromised by dropping his head into his hands to disguise the fact that he was shaking with laughter. Edgeworth had frozen with one arm outstretched over Phoenix's back (it was his turn to have the deck of cards again) and had such a comical look of shock on his face that Maya _did_ burst into laughter and wasn't quick enough to conceal it.

Pearl stomped her foot again. "Mystic Maya! It's not funny!" She insisted, just as the door opened.

Detective Gumshoe blinked at the strange tableau that greeted him. "Um… hey, pals. I got dinner…?" He trailed off, looking confusedly between Maya laughing her head off, Edgeworth looking stunned, Peal looking irate, and Phoenix shaking on the floor while hiding his face.

"It's _not_ funny!" Pearl insisted again, and Phoenix calmed down when he heard how near she was to tears. He sat up and the blanket slid off his shoulders, pooling around Edgeworth.

"Oh, Pearls," he said, patting the space beside him. "Come here. We'll explain. Won't we, Maya- Gumshoe?"

"Sure, pal!" Gumshoe's face cleared as he moved to sit on Edgeworth's other side. By now, Edgeworth had sat up as well and was pulling the blanket around to cover them all, ignoring the cards that went scattering every which way as he did so.

"You too, Miss Fey," Edgeworth called as Phoenix wrapped one end of the massive quilt around Pearl and Pess wandered over to sit beside her, wagging his tail happily. Maya obligingly came and sat between Pess and Gumshoe so that they were all in a huge circle. She took the other end of the quilt from Gumshoe, looked at how it was tangled around them all, and rolled her eyes and threw it up so that it settled down over them all.

"…Miss Fey. I can't see. Nor, I am sure, can anyone else."

"If you guys were in here all night playing games, didn't you have a flashlight?"

A moment later there was a click and Phoenix's sheepishly grinning face was illuminated.

"Uh, are we gonna tell ghost stories, pal?" Gumshoe's disembodied voice came from the darkest corner of the blanket. Phoenix swivelled the flashlight towards him and Gumshoe hastily raised his hands to block his eyes. "Just askin' 'cause this is what we used to do when I was little. Build blanket forts and tell ghost stories, I mean… There's an ace of spades over here."

"_That's_ where it went!" Phoenix exclaimed, forgetting for the moment what they were doing under the blanket in the first place. He leaned all the way across Miles to snatch up the ace and froze when Pearl growled at him. No, wait, when _Pess_ growled at him. Swinging the flashlight around again (and narrowly missing hitting Gumshoe in the face) showed him that the little girl had one hand buried in the huge dog's neck fur and was glaring at him for all she was worth, the beginnings of tears glittering in her eyes. Slowly he set the card down and leaned back. "Pearls," he began, calmly, "You're misunderstanding-"

Maya cut across him. "Nick and Edgeworth are friends," she said firmly. "Just like, uh, like me and Gumshoe are friends. Or like you and Pess," she added with a burst of inspiration.

Stubbornly, Pearl shook her head. "Nuh-uh! You and Mr. Gumshoe don't act_anything_ like Mr. Nick and Mr. Edgeworth do. And Pess and I don't either!" She glared all around the area, which was only visible because poor Phoenix had given up on swinging the flashlight everywhere and had just set it upright in the middle of their circle. Now it cast flickering shadows over everyone and gave the entire experience a surreal feeling.

"They're very good friends," Maya said firmly. "They're _best_ friends. Like you and I are best friends. You know- friends like family?"

"They don't act very much like brothers," Pearl said doubtfully. "I've never seen brothers who touch each other as often as Mr. Nick and Mr. Edgeworth."

Maya looked entreatingly at Phoenix and Miles. "Guys? Help?"

"I've never tried to put it into words before," Phoenix said helplessly. He looked to Miles, which made Pearl's lower lip quiver alarmingly. In the flickering light it looked as if her frown was going to slide right off her face.

"I might be able to," Edgeworth said cautiously, and looked back at Phoenix. "That is, if you don't mind getting a gift a bit early."

"I think we should _all_ get to open one gift, right now," Maya declared before Edgeworth's statement could set Pearl off again.

"I got'em!" Gumshoe scrambled awkwardly out of his place beneath the blanket. A few minutes later, after muffled crashing and cursing, he crawled back beneath it into their fort holding four gift-wrapped parcels in his hands.

"Detective," Edgeworth said wryly. "There are _five_ of us. And Pess."

"..Oh. Right. Uh, just a second, pal."

Another minute and more crashing later, followed by some severe jostling and elbowing, everyone had managed to get into positions where they could comfortably watch each other open gifts without having their elbows or knees in each other's stomachs. In each other's sides and across each other's legs, yes, and Phoenix had sprawled on his stomach with his legs vanishing from beneath the blanket and Edgeworth was resting his elbow on his friend's back and Maya was leaning against Gumshoe and Pess had his front paws and head in Pearl's lap, but they were comfortable anyway.

"Now then," Edgeworth said when they were all settled. "Should we have Phoenix open his gift first so we can end this argument, or should we save that for last?"

"For last," Maya said decisively, and grinned. "_I_ wanna open mine first. It's-" She squinted at the tag on the gift through the shaky light. Gumshoe helpfully lifted a corner of the blanket so that the early afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows illuminated the gift. "…It's from Miles," she declared, and tore off the paper. A moment later she held up a silver bracelet and read off the inscription on it. " 'Well behaved women?'" Maya frowned. "…If you ask Nick, I certainly don't fit that descri-"

"Turn it over," Edgeworth instructed.

Maya did so and read the rest of the inscription. " '…Rarely make history.' Oh. Oh! Thanks, Edgeworth!" She grinned at him and fastened it on her wrist. "Who's next?"

"Pearls should go next," Phoenix told her, and handed Pearl the flashlight as Gumshoe let the quilt drop back down to the floor. "Then she can choose who should go after her."

Pearl awkwardly pointed the flashlight at her gift and read it. " 'To Pearls, from Detective Gumshoe.' I can open it now?"

"Go ahead," Edgeworth urged her.

She opened her gift much slower than Maya had, carefully peeling the paper off and setting it aside. Maya was bouncing in impatience by the time Pearl had unwrapped the box and then let out a long-suffering sigh when the girl stubbornly tried to peel the tape off the flaps without ripping it. She pulled out a tiny stuffed winged cat and beamed at Gumshoe. "Thanks Mr. Detective Gumshoe! It's really cute!"

"Who should go next, Pearls?" Phoenix asked.

"Pess should," she said decisively. Pess lifted his head from her lap at the sound of his name and she pushed an irregularly-shaped package towards him. "Open it, Pess! It's from Nick!"

Pess obligingly tore the wrapping off with his teeth. While he and Pearl started a game of tug-of-war with the rope dog toy inside, Gumshoe opened his gift from Maya- a gift card for Tres Bien, which made him hug her happily- and Edgeworth started to open his gift from Phoenix. By now they'd all let the quilt slide aside so that they had light to see by but there was still a heap of bodies tumbled together in the middle of the quilted expanse of fabric. Well, none of them were cold, that was for sure.

Edgeworth smiled at the Steel Samurai watch Phoenix had gotten him and then cleared his throat before speaking up. "Pearl, Phoenix is going to open his gift now. You wanted to see him open it, didn't you?"

Eagerly looking up without ceasing the tug-of-war, Pearl nodded vigorously.

"All right," Phoenix said brightly, "This is to me from Miles."

"We _know_," Maya said, exasperated. "_Open_ it already!"

"All right, all right…Jeez…" Phoenix ripped the paper off the gift nearly as fast as Pess had and held up a gleaming silver bracelet- but unlike Maya's, this one twisted and turned in a way that tricked his eyes and made him stare fixedly at it for a moment. "..It says, uh, 'anam cara.'" He looked blank. "I have no idea what that means."

"It's Gaelic," Edgeworth put in. "It means 'soul friend'- as in, a friend close enough to be nearly family, but at the same time not _quite_ the same as family. That's what I meant when I said I found a way to put it into words." He smirked. "And that twist you're looking so confused about is because the bracelet is in the shape of a Möbius strip- a continuous closed surface with one side."

Phoenix grinned as he slipped it on. "It's neat. Does that make sense, Pearls?"

"I didn't understand the Möbius strip part," she said uncertainly.

"That's okay, I meant the soul friend part," Phoenix said easily. "Did _that_ make sense?"

Her face lit up. "Oh! Yes, it did! I think I get it now. So you're not che-che- that thing on Mystic Maya then!"

"No, he's not," Maya told her, and then grinned wickedly. "Although, you know, I thought you two were dating behind all our backs for a while too- except that every time I tried to burst in and catch you, you turned out to be playing cards, or watching TV, or doing something utterly boring and normal."

Both Phoenix and Edgeworth looked stunned.

* * *

**GuardianSaiyoko:** Maya was bustin' in and trying to catch them because everyone used to do that to me and my last boyfriend. Mind you, we were only dating because they'd ganged up to lock us in a basement together til one of us asked the other out. That does not work the way you think it does. We got hungry, dammit. 


	6. Of Winter and Ruffles

**Disclaimer:** My cat made me do it.

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**006. Of Winter and Ruffles**

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_Prompt: Phoenix and Miles as cats. Phoenix is a stray, Miles is Franziska's pet kitten._

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That other cat had ruffles.

He'd never seen a cat with ruffles before. Sure, he had his neck-ribbon from those nice girls that fed him sometimes, but ruffles? Now those just looked silly.

He backed up and jumped up to the window ledge where the other cat was sunning himself. The window was open, so there was only a thin screen separating them, and he cocked his head at the ruffled cat who didn't seem to react to his presence at all. Maybe he was blind? He'd still have heard him jump up though, right?

"Hi," Phoenix offered. "I'm Phoenix," and he preened a little because he liked his name. Ruffles didn't respond though. "Well, uh, actually, those nice girls who feed me call me Nick...and uh..I think one of them calls me Nickel sometimes but I dunno why... and I used to be called Feenie for a little while but that was a long time ago," he babbled happily.

Ruffles finally deigned to turn and look at him, blinking slow and lazily, and Phoenix amused himself deciding the other cat had to be a Persian. Or a Siamese. Maybe a mix of the two? No, he seemed too haughty to be a mix. Phoenix decided he was a Persian. "So...hi! It looks warm in there. Is it warm in there? It's not out here, you know. But that's okay 'cause Maya and Mia let me sleep under their porch when it gets cold and it's kinda warm under there and you still haven't told me your name, you know, that's kinda rude."

The other cat looked to be considering not answering for a moment, before sighing and saying shortly, "Yes, it's warm in here."

"Cool! I wish it was warm out here. Like it is in summer. But that's okay 'cause Maya and Mia-"

"Yes," Ruffles said, cutting him off, "They have a porch you sleep under. You've said that already while you were cleverly not breathing."

Phoenix paused for a long moment because he was sure there was an insult in there somewhere. He quickly lost interest, though- he was still a kitten at heart and had an attention span to match. "So what'd you say your name was?"

"I didn't." His tail waved lazily. "It's... Miles."

That was effectively the end of the conversation, since Franziska chose that moment to come fetch Miles for dinner and consequently to scold him for being nearly nose-to-nose with a 'foolish stray' at the window.

After that, however, the other cat seemed to drop by at least once a day. For someone who got most of his meals from hunting he didn't seem to be particularly busy. The colder it got, the more often he seemed to be at the window, and one day as Miles was listening to Phoenix talk at him he took a moment to study him.

Phoenix was... thin. Much thinner than he'd been when he'd first appeared at the window. On top of that, he was constantly shivering, and his neck ribbon was torn and dirtied beyond repair. His coat was matted and dirty and even his eyes seemed less bright.

Miles tried to put it out of his mind.

Every time Phoenix came by after that, though, he noticed that the stray looked a little scruffier, a little scrawnier, a little more scared of leaving. Eventually Franziska, having given up on getting him to go away, started leaving food out which Phoenix inexplicably did not touch.

One day when Miles had actually spent the night asleep beside the window, nestled snugly into a cat bed put there for that purpose, he was awoken in the middle of the night by a noise outside. Lifting his head tiredly he stared out the window- straight at Phoenix, who was ineffectively licking and gnawing at his leg in an attempt to heal a bullet wound. It was his soft hissing that had woken Miles.

"Phoenix?" Miles said uncertainly. The other cat leaped in startlement and let out a mewl of pain when he landed.

"M-Miles," he stammered. "Mia... Maya... they..." He tried to stand fully upright and failed, instead balancing on his three good legs and leaning on the window. "Someone came and robbed the house, and, and they shot... they shot the girls and they weren't moving, and I tried to go in and trip them up and I wanted to save Mia and Maya but... but then they shot me too and..."

"Stay there," Miles commanded, seeing how shaky his friend was. "Let me go get Franziska."

In the end, Franziska not only went to check on the two girls who had previously been feeding Phoenix- exactly how she knew who they were and where they lived, Miles was unsure- and upon seeing there was nothing she could do with them took Phoenix to the vet.

"He's malnourished," the vet said gently, running her hands carefully over Phoenix's leg. "And this leg is beyond saving. We'll have to amputate it. Unless- he's a stray, you say?"

Franziska nodded. The vet looked very uncomfortable. "Then, I'm afraid we'll almost certainly have to put him down. Even if we go ahead and do the surgery, not many people want a three-legged cat."

Franziska hesitated, then sighed as Miles meowed from the cat carrier. "I'll be taking care of him."

After his surgery, Phoenix did nothing but sleep for most of a week. Maybe longer. As a cat, Miles' grasp of time was less than ideal. Franziska had placed a basket for him beneath the window he used to sit at- he could hardly be expected to jump up to the shelf- and Phoenix dragged himself off it only with great reluctance and only to use the litter box or to mechanically lap up water. The food Franziska set out for him beside the basket, while not wholly untouched, was more nibbled at than it was eaten.

Even more worrisome, at least to Miles, was the way Franziska's habits were changing. She was gone for much longer each day and going straight to bed each night. Miles' world was changing and that made him profoundly unhappy- but then, he rationalized, if _his_ world was changing _Phoenix's_ world had been shattered.

One night when Franziska came home she made a beeline for the window basket rather than going directly to sleep. Miles raised his head from his paws in his now-familiar place beside the basket as she knelt down.

"Foolish, foolish cat," she said. Slowly, as if he did not want to move, Phoenix raised his head and blinked at her. "Fool- your foolish friend, the younger Miss Fey, has been in the hospital ICU. She is going to be okay." At that, Phoenix's ears pricked forward, and if he didn't quite look alert he looked much closer to it than he had since waking here. Franziska kept her voice low and soothing as she reached towards Phoenix. It wasn't until he flinched away, shivering pathetically, that Miles had an inkling of exactly _why_ the other cat had been running about as a stray despite the two girls who clearly cared for him. "That foolish Fey girl will be coming here tomorrow night. Neither she nor her fool sister had made _any_ plans as to where to stay should something happen to one of them." She scowled, but her eyes were soft as she withdrew from the two cats and stood. She stayed a moment, looking down at them, before turning to head off to bed.

When Phoenix spoke, Miles was surprised to realize that he still had every bit of the stutter he'd displayed when he'd first shown up on the windowsill panicked and shot. He stumbled badly over his words as he asked, "Sh-she..re-re-re-really..Ma-ya, she's..okay?"

He sounded hurt and hopeful at the same time and Miles jumped into the basket beside him, headbutting him affectionately after a moment's hesitation. "If Franziska says she is, she is," he said firmly.

"You're sh-sure?" Phoenix shuddered again and curled up tightly, nearly nose to tail, and flatted his ears.

"Positive." Miles settled himself beside the- younger? maybe, he wasn't sure- cat. "Now go to sleep."

Curled up comfortably, both of them slept for most of the night and the next day. Soft voices, a conversation, woke Miles in the early evening.

"I can't believe you got him to come inside. He's never let me or... or Sis near him except when she put that ribbon on him. I think he's been abused sometime before, he never wanted to be touched-"

Miles had never heard that voice before. It was young, almost painfully honest, with a running undercurrent of enthusiasm- it reminded him of Phoenix when they'd first met.

In contrast, Franziska's voice was quite calm and controlled. Miles opened his eyes but didn't move- Phoenix was still asleep and resting against him. "Realistically, your foolish feline is here only because he arrived hurt. He had foolishly dragged himself here bleeding from a bullet wound and that is how that bullet arrived in the evidence in my possession."

The first voice, presumably Phoenix's Maya, spoke again from somewhere closer. Phoenix's eyelids flickered. "Thank you for taking care of him. Sis really loved him...and with him missing a leg now, and he was a pretty scrawny stray to begin with, then... I don't think he'd have done well without your help. Besides, I've seen him hunt, he's not very good at it even when he's perfectly healthy."

Phoenix's eyes opened all the way when Miles nudged him, just as Franziska and Maya entered the room. Phoenix surged to his feet, a little awkwardly since he was still learning to adjust his balance, and mewled plaintively as Maya sat carefully beside the basket. She was moving stiffly, as if still in lingering pain, and Franziska crouched beside her.

Phoenix crept forward and very hesitantly rubbed his head against Maya's hand, before cringing back and laying his ears flat. When Maya did nothing more but pet him lightly, he relaxed, but only slightly. Maya smiled up at Franziska. "So, can we keep him?"

It was not until she asked that question that Miles realized this wasn't to be a temporary arrangement. From Phoenix's expression as he pressed low to the ground, _he_ still thought it was at least temporary for _him_.

"I think we will have to, after I foolishly spent so much money on caring for the foolish feline." As the look on Phoenix's face changed to one of dawning realization, Miles surveyed the very proprietary hand on Maya's shoulder, the softer-than-usual expression on Franziska, and Phoenix's cautious acceptance of a painless human touch, and thought, _I can learn to live like this._

Which is exactly what they did.

* * *

**GuardianSaiyoko:** I know I was mean to Phoenix here. It's in honour of Azland (intentionally misspelled), a cat who came into our clinic during the holidays who'd been shot and ended up losing a leg- and then had the entire staff of the animal hospital fall in love with him. People can do some really nasty things.


	7. The Zombie Blizzard Apocalypse

**Disclaimer:** This was ridiculously hard to post, as my computer decided it hated me and was Choosing Death about halfway through.

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**007. The Zombie Blizzard Apocalypse**

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_Prompt:__ Was essentially something along the lines of The Day After Tomorrow, and then zombies got thrown in there. I am afraid to go check for the actual original prompt lest my computer decide on waging war again._

* * *

Wright was teaching Maya and Pearls_- __Pearl, _dammit, he was _not _letting that insipid nickname rub off on him- how to play poker.

Normally he'd find this at least somewhat reprehensible (Pearls- _Pearl _was what, eight?) but there were slightly more pressing matters right now and if Wright had found a way to occupy most of the occupants of the smaller-by-the-second courtroom at the same time, he wasn't about to question the idea. It seemed Gumshoe had never learned to play poker, either, and while Larry _had_ the rules he knew were… questionable at best.

Edgeworth got up from his seat at the prosecutor's bench (which Franziska was not-well-hidden behind with Adrian, and if those two kept it up Pearl would shortly be learning more than just card games) and waved to Wright that he was going to check the situation outside. Wright waved subtly back, thus proving that he was not as engrossed as the card game as he seemed. Ah. Well _that_ explained Maya's unprecedented winning streak.

He borrowed Franziska's whip (she wasn't going to miss it for a while) and tapped Gumshoe on the shoulder and politely requested to borrow his gun. Armed, he made his way out of Courtroom Four and down the hall, peeking in the Prosecutor's Lobby as he went- and he'd wondered where the members of the Berry Big Circus had holed up, given that the Big Top couldn't be giving them that much protection, and he'd have to let Maya know that Regina and Max were here- and continued on. The Defendant's Lobby was also full, Will Powers and Penny Nichols having holed up in there with the staff of Tres Bien. Hmm, he'd have to send Gumshoe over here… Damn, who knew this many people would run to the _district court_, of all places? He figured that between here and the Detention Center, everyone he or Wright had ever defended _or _gotten convicted were relatively safe.

He was as far down the hall as he could safely go, and noted calmly that it would probably be wise to try and get everyone into _one_ courtroom now. Somewhere on the second floor might be safer, actually. Edgeworth leaned cautiously around the final corner, observed the teeming masses just outside the barricaded bullet-proof glass, and noted that there was now almost a complete whiteout only a few paces from the doors. A complete whiteout. In California.

He rapped on the doors as he made his way back, directing everyone into Courtroom Four. It would, he explained patiently as he instructed each group to make their way there, be much easier if they were all in the same room- since he wasn't at all confident that the glass in the doors would hold forever. A courtroom, after all, was a very large room and while there were a lot of them, Courtroom Four could easily hold them all.

At the Prosecutor's Lobby he got a pleasant surprise. Moe had made certain the circus had come prepared. Not only were the performers perfectly amenable to entertaining everyone for a while, but they'd brought enough food and drink to tide the group over for at least a few days.

Phoenix was lounging on the witness stand when he'd finally gotten everyone into the room. The poker game still seemed to be going strong with a rather flushed Franziska taking his place and Phoenix waited for the milling about to settle down before clearing his throat loudly as Miles took a seat beside him.

"Hey…" Clearly that wasn't loud enough. "Hey! Hey, everyone, up here, I need your attention!"

Edgeworth rolled his eyes. "Like _this_, Wright." He cleared his throat loudly and everyone looked up. "Attention, please, this is important." He smirked at Wright's gape. "As you know, the city is in a state of emergency. Since we've all made it here, and _here_ seems relatively safe at the moment, Wright and I both feel it would be a good place to stay. Since there's an entrance to the bathrooms from here and the Berry Big Circus was thoughtful enough to bring a large quantity of non-perishable food with them, it would be prudent to barricade both the outer doors here and the doors to the hall in the bathrooms and wait out this… epidemic."

"ZOMBIES!" Someone shouted loudly. Phoenix was almost positive it was Maya, but it could have been Regina.

"We don't know that," Edgeworth said firmly. "Regardless, there are definitely a number of individuals outside these walls that seem rather mindless and it does seem to be spreading. I suggest, again, that we all stay here until this blows over."

"_How_ is that not zombies?" someone demanded. Okay, that was definitely Maya.

"Now," Edgeworth raised his voice again, ignoring the outbursts, "While we do have some food, there are too many of us for it to last very long. I need some volunteers. Who's going with Wright and I to gather supplies?"

"Why don't I get a say in this?" Phoenix asked plaintively. Edgeworth ignored him as he counted hands.

"…Maya, Gumshoe, and Larry. You three, you're with us. Franziska, Adrian, Godot," he held up his hands to forestall their arguments, "Someone still has to be left in charge here. Franziska. I hope you don't mind if I borrow your whip a bit longer?" Franziska opened her mouth to protest, but ended up waving him off when Adrian kissed her soundly. Edgeworth drew Gumshoe's gun from his belt and handed it back to the detective as his chosen group gathered around him.

"What kind of weapons do we get?" Maya asked excitedly. "Do we get guns, too? Huh, huh, do we?"

"I want a board with nails in it!" Larry exclaimed. "Or a bat! Or a stop sign! Or…"

"The evidence for the last several cases is in the Prosecutor's Lobby, pal," Gumshoe put in. "It was in here while we cleaned out the Criminal Affairs Department."

Fifteen minutes later they were all assembled at the end of the hall. Gumshoe had his gun out, Edgeworth still had Franziska's whip, Phoenix had one half of a broken Samurai Spear while Maya had the other half, and Larry had the statue of The Thinker because both Phoenix and Maya refused to carry it. After the fight Maya had put up for the Samurai Spear it wasn't worth the argument.

"All right, team!" Gumshoe said brightly, waving around his gun and a mop he seemed to think was a good weapon. Larry had duct-taped a knife to the end of it. Phoenix just barely managed to duck it and lost one of his spikes in the process. "Let's mosey!"

Phoenix rolled his eyes. "We're running to Edgeworth's car. Once we get there, everyone get in _as fast as you can_ and lock the doors behind you. Ready, set, NOW!"

The five of them rushed the doors, Phoenix kicking them open as they aimed their weapons. Gumshoe and Edgeworth yanked them closed behind them as Maya and Phoenix each took out several zombies by wildly swinging their halves of the spears. Well, Maya took them out, anyway- Phoenix simply knocked them over since his half the spear wasn't sharp. "GO, GO, GO!" Larry yelled frantically as he slammed the statue around in front of him. Having gotten the doors slammed shut Edgeworth took off for his car. Behind him, Gumshoe shot at as many zombies as he could, but was limited by the low visibility- he couldn't be positive everyone was in the car, after all.

"Gumshoe!" Edgeworth barked. "Get in!"

Gumshoe slid into the back seat next to Larry. On the other side, Maya had cracked the window and slid the Samurai Spear out of it- she was giggling madly at she beheaded zombies from the safety of the car.

Phoenix shook in the passenger seat, very much _not_ appreciating the fact that not only was there impossible amounts of snow out there, there was also thunder rumbling somewhere close and flashes of light interspersed with the whiteness that could only be lightning. "_Drive,_" he ground out as the prosecutor fumbled for his keys.

Miles jammed the keys into the ignition. The car roared into life, as did the radio, which Maya and Larry had apparently been playing with since they'd made it the car first.

"…_~Hot town, summer in the city! Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty! Been down, isn't it a pity… Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city~!"_

Maya giggled and she and Larry sang the next few lines as Edgeworth pressed down hard on the gas, not bothering with the radio after making sure Phoenix's window was up- Phoenix was going to be slightly useless until they were indoors again anyway.

"_All around, people looking half dead!"_ Edgeworth ran over a few zombies too slow to get out of the way and swerved past several crashed and abandoned cars to make a hard left. _"Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head~!" _

"Phoenix," Edgeworth hissed. "Change the radio station, would you? Or turn it off."

Phoenix twisted the dial on the dashboard and cringed as the volume skyrocketed. "_But at night it's a different world! Go out and find a girl! Come-on come-on and dance all night, despite the heat it'll be alright!"_

Maya was still giggling madly as she hewed through the zombies outside the car. Gumshoe held up his coat over himself and Larry to protect them from the snow swirling in through the cracked window.

"Are we there yet?" Phoenix whimpered, fiddling with the radio again at Edgeworth's glare. It blared again. _"…~me now I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball, don't stop me now! If you wanna have a good time just give me a call! Don't stop me now!" _

"This is ridiculous. Why is radio communication even still working in these conditions?" Edgeworth said flatly as he swerved to avoid a fallen streetlight and subsequently found himself speeding through a graveyard. Maya yelped as her sister's corpse lurched up out of the snow and Phoenix saw her channelling Mia in the rear-view.

"TAKE THAT!" his channelled mentor yelled as she stabbed… herself in the chest. Phoenix swallowed hard at the sight of Mia's body being dragged along beside the car.

"I could have done without that visual!" The Maserati barrelled through a handful of headstones and Edgeworth swerved back onto a street at last. He floored the gas and drove straight into the glass doors of a supermarket.

"Phoenix, roll the windows down!" he commanded. "Gumshoe, Larry, get as much food as you can into the car- nothing that needs to be refrigerated or cooked. Maya, Phoenix, watch out for zombies!"

"On it!" Maya- Mia, actually, she was still channelling- yelled back, swinging the body-studded spear in an arc out the window as Phoenix rolled them all down and shoved his half the spear out of it. Gumshoe did the same with the mop in one hand and swept boxes of cereal from the shelves with the other as Edgeworth sped through the store, knocking displays over and sending zombies flying.

Larry, astonishingly enough, had the presence of mind to suggest a second stop after he'd been neatly buried in non-perishable food. "Edgey! We should go through a Wal-Mart or something too, grab some blankets for everyone- and I dunno, maybe some toys and books and things so we're not all totally bored?"

Edgeworth grit his teeth and didn't answer, just drove back out the shattered doors, wincing inwardly at the damage to his car, and followed Gumshoe's shouted directions to the closest Super Wal-Mart.

After an extremely harrowing and bloody experience involving knocking over rows of shelves and spearing yet more zombies and Phoenix expressing in a strained voice his _very strong desire_ for Mia to _at least_ shake her body off her half the spear, they sped away with a backseat full of blankets and board games and food and CDs and a radio, for that matter, because Maya- _Mia_- had grabbed them. Edgeworth floored it back to the courthouse, running over a host of zombies, and hit the brakes so hard in the parking lot that they fishtailed up to the doors. Everyone threw open their doors all at once, grabbed an armful of supplies, and _ran like hell_ for inside.

Inside was chaos.

That was to expected, probably, all things considered. As Gumshoe blockaded the door from the inside again and Larry covered him (this was probably not the smartest arrangement) Phoenix, Miles, and Mia stood in the doorway to Courtroom Four and stared.

Max was flying through the air above the gallery, with Regina clapping delightedly as he landed on the defense's bench.

Godot was sharing a mug of coffee with Pearl and Will Powers, which seemed all manner of unwise, and he appeared to be giving a lengthy diatribe against coffee drunk any way but black while he was at it.

Penny Nichols was- Writing something on the _wall? _She was just close enough for Edgeworth to make out some of the words. They looked like Beatles lyrics. That was just lovely. He was trapped with a lot of people to whom cabin fever meant graffiti, coffee, and defying gravity.

Near the witness stand, Franziska was arguing with Adrian and Maggey. "Look," she was saying, "This is utter foolishness. I can say any name I want. _Candleja_-"

Both Maggey and Adrian lunged for her and clapped their hands over her mouth. Beside her a ghost appeared for a moment, looked briefly disappointed, and vanished again.

"This is _not happening_," Phoenix breathed in disbelief.

Beside him, Maya, who was now oscillating between herself and Maya so that it made Edgeworth dizzy to just to look at her, giggled. "Zombies and ghosts and blizzards, oh my!" Then she darted back into the courtroom, grabbed Regina with one hand and Max with the other, and dragged them up to the witness stand to stand with Adrian and Franziska and Maggey. Gumshoe and Larry joined them when they made it to the courtroom.

Surveying the scene, Edgeworth sighed. "This is going to be a very _long_ siege."

"…_.. ~wanted maaaan! Oh Mama, I've been years on the lam and had a high price on my head, lawman said 'Get him dead or alive' and it's for sure he'll see me dead! Dear Mama I can hear you cryin', you're so scared and all alone; Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long!"_

Maya had the radio working. In moments she had coerced a sizable portion of the room to sing along.

"_The jig is up, the news is out, they finally found me! The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty! Never more to go astray-_" Godot had joined that group by the witness stand at some point, Pearls on his shoulders, and raised his coffee cup in salute to the judge who finished the verse by himself.

"_The judge'll have revenge today! On the waaanted man!"_

Edgeworth stood, unmoving, for a very long moment. Phoenix grabbed his arm and Edgeworth turned to look at him.

"I move," said Phoenix, "That we go wait out part of this siege in the bathroom. Away from the others."

"Agreed." Edgeworth let Phoenix lead him away, still rather stunned by the sight of Franziska singing.

Once in the bathroom Edgeworth turned to ask Wright just what, exactly, the plan was. He was utterly taken aback when Wright lunged at him, knocking him back against the door and kissing him thoroughly. He was only stunned for a moment- After all, the world appeared to be ending, the man _was_ very attractive, and while what looked to be every single one of their friends and acquaintances was just on the other side of the door they had all been fairly preoccupied. In fact, he could hear Maya (Mia?) changing the music once again as he sought to slide Wright's jacket off. The cheap cloth fell to the floor, shortly followed by Wright's shirt and tie and Edgeworth's suit, as the strains of music floated faintly through the door.

"…_I'm sailing away, set an open course for the virgin sea…"_

"You're not a virgin, are you, Wright?" he murmured as they both pulled back for air.

Wright grinned smugly at him before doing _something_ Edgeworth didn't see that resulted in them both being stripped to their boxers. "No."

"_I've got to be free, free to face the life that's ahead of me; on board, I'm the captain, so climb aboard! We'll search for tomorrow on every shore! And I'll try, oh Lord, I'll try to carry on!"_

Then he tackled Edgeworth against the wall again, and Edgeworth moaned as one of Phoenix's hands slipped lower and wrapped firmly around him.

"_I look to the sea, reflections in the waves spark my memory… Some happy, some sad…I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had!"_

Phoenix was pumping rhythmically, and after a stunned moment Edgeworth regained enough of his senses to realize he ought to return the favour. Phoenix moaned low in his throat when Edgeworth touched

him and attacked the other man's mouth with fervour once again.

"_We live happily forever, so the story goes- but somehow we missed out on that pot of gold…but we'll try best that we can to carry on!"_

They moved against each other as the music rose again outside, as Phoenix first smirked into the kiss and then sang into it- "A gathering of angels appeared above my head.. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said…"

Phoenix pulled away again and gazed at Miles through half-lidded and strangely smoky eyes as he murmured, "They said come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me," and they came one after another as Maya suddenly switched the music.

"-_When I think about you I touch myself!_" suddenly blared in the next room, startling them both into losing their balance around the same time that Franziska's horrified shout of "MAYA FEY!" echoed through the courtroom and was followed by giggling.

Eventually the two lawyers emerged from the bathroom, and if Phoenix's hair was a little flatter than usual and Miles' cravat was not on quite straight everyone knew better than to comment. Edgeworth recovered faster than he did on seeing the room- he wasn't sure who had grabbed crêpe paper on their mad rush for supplies, but he suspected Larry- and headed for Gumshoe to ask about the situation, Wright trailing behind him.

"Detective," he said shortly. "What is the situation outside?"

Gumshoe scratched the back of his head lightly and didn't raise his gaze to meet theirs. "Uh… it's bad, pal. Real bad. It's good we got supplies when we did…" He trailed off and mumbled something Edgeworth didn't catch. He looked at Wright, who shook his head- he hadn't caught it either.

At Edgeworth's glare, Gumshoe hastily rose his voice. "It's _bad_. Real bad. We were lucky to go when we did, because, uh, the doors kind of… They kind of don't open anymore. Snow drifted up against them, and uh…" His voice dropped again and the two lawyers strained to hear him mumble the next word. "..Bodies. Bodies drifted up, too. And I recognized some of them…" Gumshoe swallowed, hard, and added, "Parts of them, anyway," in a dry whisper.

"Who?" Phoenix said sharply. Urgently.

Gumshoe flinched. "Some people from the detention center- Jerry, the security guard- um, Redd White. Matt Engarde," he was still whispering. "Not friends, not even people I'd call decent, pal, but... It's pretty horrific out there."

"How bad, _precisely_, Gumshoe?" Edgeworth asked, placing one hand on Phoenix's shoulder as the other man shuddered at the litany of names.

"We're trapped in here," Gumshoe said grimly. "All of us. With enough food to last us maybe two weeks, if we ration it out and we're very, _very_ lucky. And..." He hesitated, and then his shoulders sagged slightly. "And if the weather doesn't trigger any earthquakes- if they're bad enough they could have the potential to level the building."

Edgeworth tried very hard not to let his alarm show on his face, but couldn't find a reply to this. Wright placed a hand over his and said comfortingly, "This building was built to withstand earthquakes- we should all be all right if we stay here in the courtroom."

He started to reply to Wright and was interrupted by Maya Fey's sudden cry of triumph.

"Guys! Guys, I got a radio station! And _there's people broadcasting!_"

The radio buzzed static for a moment as everyone crowded around it and Franziska waved everyone back sharply. The voices became clear.

"…don't know, really, if there's anyone out there listening to this. But we're trapped in this studio and since my lovely assistant here doesn't seem interested in my assurances that he could die happily and _not_ virginal-"

"If those zombies outside don't kill you, _I will_," snarled a second staticky voice.

"…Please. They're not zombies. No one can say that for sure. At least, no one in this studio. They are…_murder happy characters._"

There was a sound like someone being hit with something heavy, a broken-off curse, and then the second voice said, "You watch too many horror movies. For anyone alive and just tuning in… Bolt and Cyrus here, with… the evening news? Well, fuck that. We are all _totally screwed_ news over."

"We could have young listeners, you know."

"Have you looked outside recently, Cy? If they haven't learned _all kinds_ of interesting new words today I will…I'll…I don't know what I'll do."

"…Screw me?"

"For the last time, _NO!_ Oh, this is good. This is… awesomely hilarious. Look at our song list."

There was a sudden snort of laughter, then "We have _got_ to play that," and then the arguing gave way to music.

"_Waking up at the start of the end of the world, but its feeling just like every morning before, now I wonder what my life is going to mean if its gone!"_

"…Someone has a twisted sense of humour," Phoenix muttered.

Maya shrugged as she paused in singing for a moment. "This show is always like this, though. I listened to it last week- they had people calling in to say what they'd do if the world was ending in an hour, and it was, you know, pretty entertaining. People were saying seeing if they could jump the highway off-ramp to the highway in their car, skydiving, bungee jumping…You know. Stuff they'd be afraid to do otherwise." She looked thoughtful. "And sex. Lots of people wanted to have sex."

"I second that," Larry said, and then grabbed Maya and dove for the debatable privacy of the gallery. Regina giggled and followed them. Max followed her.

"_The cars are moving like a half a mile an hour if that…I started staring at the passengers waving goodbye; can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time_?"

"I still refuse to believe this is actually happening," Phoenix said.

"_But I! Believe! The world! Is _burning to the ground! _Oh well I guess we're gonna find out, let's see how far we've come! Let's see how far we've come!_"

"I believe you're entitled," Miles replied, slowly, as he'd been distracted by Godot, Penny, Franziska, Adrian, Ben, Moe, Trilo, and the Judge making for the gallery on the prosecution's side of the courtroom. Then everyone else headed for one side or the other too. Shortly Phoenix and Miles were left standing in the middle of the court alone with Pearls, who looked extremely confused by the sudden exodus.

"This," said Miles, "Is going to be a _very long siege."_


	8. The Trail We Blaze, Part 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't even remember writing most of this. It makes me want to watch this movie again. Oh yeah! This is based on the plot of the Dreamworks movie Road to El Dorado. You'll see.

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**008. The Trail We Blaze, Part One  


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**_Prompt: Phoenix and Edgeworth... GO TO EL DORADO._

_WHOO SUBTEXT._

_This Anon hasn't slept in ages._

* * *

He had, as per usual, no idea whatsoever how Wright had gotten them into this.

Oh, he knew it was Wright's fault. It always seemed to be, somehow. He did have a tendency to get them into odd situations, and after Wright had won that poker game for that damnable map Edgeworth had indeed felt an impending sense of doom, but really, this was a bit much.

"Edgeworth, did you ever imagine it would end like this?" Wright asked, almost thoughtfully, as he slumped against his friend's shoulder. Edgeworth felt too exasperated to begrudge him that.

"The horse is a surprise," he said wryly.

The horse, a last-minute rescue from the probably doomed cruise ship, nickered. Edgeworth spared a moment to try and work out in his head the logistics of two men and a horse sharing a single life raft and it not collapsing, but gave it up as a bad job when he felt a headache starting.

"Let's go on a cruise ship, you said," Edgeworth muttered as he slumped back against Phoenix. "It'll be an adventure, you said."

"Well, it's definitely an adventure," Wright said brightly. Edgeworth noticed the other man was shivering violently against him, then damned himself for noticing. Not for _caring_, because he most certainly did not, but for noticing.

"And it's going to be our _last_ adventure," Edgeworth growled. "Are you at all familiar with the words 'Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink?'"

Wright curled up against his back, trying to make more room in the boat for the two of them and the horse. He assumed. "Um.. yes…" The other man's voice was small. "But it… it'll turn out okay, I'm sure."

Edgeworth sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You really…" He paused. "…You really believe that, don't you."

"Someone has to," came the quiet answer, and damn, he was still shivering. It was, admittedly, fairly cold out here, and as they'd both gotten soaked leaping madly from the cruise ship- something Edgeworth was sure he would never have an excuse for assuming he actually _survived_ this insane adventure.

Wright sighed deeply and Edgeworth stayed still and silent as his friend's breathing evened out. Wright was still shivering. Edgeworth raised his eyes to the horse, who was staring at them both with something very like interest. Damn Wright and his idiotic need to save everyone anyway- without the horse he was sure they'd have been able to row, if not to land, then at least with considerably more ease. It was just a horse, they hadn't had any obligation to save the stupid beast from drowning…

Then again, Edgeworth conceded with a sigh as he twisted around and wrapped one arm around Wright with unconscious ease (to stay warm, of course), he very much doubted that it was 'just a horse' to Wright.

"..You… made my life an adventure," he murmured to Wright's sleeping form. Wright made a mewling sound in his sleep and turned his head to nuzzle into Edgeworth's shirt, apparently seeking further warmth. Hesitantly Edgeworth placed his other arm around him.

The boat bumped up against something.

Glancing over as the horse whickered, Edgeworth's eyes widened.

"Wright," he whispered frantically, shaking the defense attorney softly. "Wright, wake up!"

"Whazza?" Phoenix came awake all at once, all flailing limbs and lidded eyes. "Ehwur-?"

Edgeworth tried to ignore the shiver hearing Phoenix slur his name that way sent all through him and pointed, only half-believing it himself. "Land. We've found land!"

Wright beat him out of the boat.

Wright beat him to the bleached skeletons on the beach, too.

"All in favour of getting back on the boat, say aye," Edgeworth said flatly as he surveyed the scene.

"Aye," Phoenix replied quickly, but as Edgeworth waited for him to get back in the boat, he hesitated.

Then he pulled out the map.

Miles felt his eye twitch.

"Miles…" Phoenix whispered, glancing at the map, then up at his surroundings, then at the map again. "Miles… Look, the map… This is where the map starts!"

"You _still_ have the _map_?" Edgeworth demanded.

Phoenix nattered on, oblivious. "Look, it's all here! The whistling rock, the stream, the mountains! All of it!"

"He drank the seawater, didn't he," Edgeworth muttered to the horse. The horse neighed back at him in seeming agreement.

God help him, but Phoenix was giving him that look again. That was the look that had gotten him onto a cruise ship in the first place, that had wheedled him into the poker game for that thrice-damned map, that had gotten the horse dragged along with him… He was coming to sincerely hate that look.

Hate it as he might, though, he still could not refuse it.

He sighed and tugged their meagre supplies from the raft to sling over his shoulder. "Lead the way, then," he ground out as the horse whickered and followed Phoenix.

Phoenix eagerly tore a machete from the carnage on the beach, though how he could stand to do so was beyond Edgeworth, and dramatically sliced through the vines before them. "We'll follow the trail we blaze!"

The vines fell away to reveal solid, unscarred rock.

To his credit, Phoenix recovered quickly. He pointed the machete yet more dramatically in another direction in a gesture oddly reminiscent of the courtroom and declared, "_That_ trail that we blaze!"

Edgeworth thought privately that Maya had exposed Phoenix to far too many children's programs, but held back from remarking on it. He'd be hard-pressed to explain his knowledge, after all.

Though, when Phoenix started singing, it was a bit much. At least he didn't get on the horse- Edgeworth rather doubted he knew how to ride.

"- Changing legend into fact! We shall ride into his~tory! Turning myth into truth, we shall surely ga~ze! On the sweet unfooolding, of an antique mys~tery! All will be revealed, on the trail we blaaaaze!" He also did not know how to carry a tune, apparently. Edgeworth sighed as he trudged after him.

Really, he asked the brilliantly blue sky silently, was this necessary? If this was some sort of divine retribution for his prosecution record he'd gotten the idea, really. He had. At least Wright was getting the words mostly right. Not that Edgeworth had ever seen the movie to compare it to. Not at all. He certainly hadn't had to watch that Without Question sequence again just to make sure it wasn't secretly Wright drawn as Miguel, certainly not. Lack of sleep had merely been causing a lapse of judgment. That was all it was.

In retrospect he should have been paying closer attention. It was just like Wright to lead them to a hot spring and see nothing at all wrong with the idea.

-

There _were_ quite a lot of similarities, Miles mused as he stripped awkwardly behind a tree. Wright had already leapt joyously into the hot spring, shedding his clothes almost as an afterthought and rinsing them of seawater before tossing them over a vine to dry. Wright certainly had the same sunny disposition, bright outlook, oddly endearing naiveté, even that _look_ that Miguel gave he could swear had been lifted directly from Wri- but of course he had never seen that movie so he could hardly make that comparison.

He waited until Wright was fully submerged, trying futilely to wash his hair without the benefit of soap, before joining him in the spring. Wright bobbed back to the surface swiftly and gave him that smile that he was privately certain could eclipse the sun.

The first time he'd ever seen The Road to El Dorado (a paradox, as he had certainly never had the time for such childish nonsense) he had been.. nonplussed at the insistent reminders of his childhood friend. That had been long before his first court case against Wright, long before he was even aware the other man was at all nearby, and yet he had been unable to stop drawing comparisons… much like he was doing now.

Of course, the fact that Wright was still singing happily to himself was hardly helping matters. "Paradise is close at haaaand! Shangri-la, the Promised Land! Seventh heaven on demand, quite unusual nowadays, virgin vistas, undefiled, minds and bodies running wild- in the man, behold the child- on the trail we blaze!"

Wright had his head tilted back, his eyes closed in pleasure, his cheeks flushed from the heat of the water and… and he most certainly was not about to continue that train of though. Not now, not with Wright _right there_, right there and most definitely naked as his clothes were clearly visible hanging above them and- and Wright almost certainly had no idea of the effect he was having. Of course, Wright had had a typical upbringing in the States, he had gone through gym class and changing rooms, he would see nothing at all odd about this. He had no idea he was begging to be ravished.

In the end, Edgeworth had to excuse himself and slip quietly out of the pool while Phoenix was otherwise occupied- the horse he'd saved was whuffling his shoulder, looking for attention, and Phoenix always had been a sap when it came to animals. If Edgeworth was hearing correctly then the horse had been recently renamed Altivo, which only served to make him sigh and shake his head.

The movie had certainly failed to mention that a trek through the jungle would take over a week to complete. By the fourth night, huddled under a massive palm leaf with a horse and a defense attorney who shook with fear and flinched closer to him each time lightning flashed or thunder rumbled, Edgeworth was despairing of ever making it out of the jungle. To be honest with himself he did not find it totally unexpected to be approaching death with Wright as his only (human) companion, though as he'd previously mentioned the horse (and the jungle) was a surprise.

-

It was amazing, Miles reflected, how various foods could taste so different depending on their preparation. He did not normally care for fish, and he especially did not care for fish half-burnt and half-raw after a failure at a pathetic attempt to gut and clean said fish. But. But when he had watched Phoenix catch the fish with his bare hands and a kind of childish glee, when they had tried between them to work out the mechanics of cooking it, when after several frustrating attempts had fallen flat, it was amazing how wonderful it tasted.

It was amazing, too, the glow of triumph he felt when they had successfully started a fire. They didn't have matches or a lighter, after all- it was through creative use of Edgeworth's reading glasses that they had conjured a flame at all. Though his rational mind knew it was ridiculous the irrational part of him revelled in the first discovery of fire.

A tiny, traitorous part of him whispered that even if they spent all of forever lost in this jungle, he could be happy. After all… everything he wanted was across the fire from him, cooking dinner.

Finally, on the twelfth day after landfall (Phoenix had been counting), they came to the rock marked on the map.

"Well," Edgeworth said after a lengthy pause. He wiped sweat from his brow and glanced at Phoenix, who was slumped against the horse looking utterly exhausted. He hadn't been sleeping well since it was apparently the rainy season and every night brought storms. "Now what?"

Phoenix straightened and looked around uncertainly, swaying slightly. "U-um… there's gotta… There's gotta be an entrance around here somewhere, right? Don't'cha think?" He turned a pleading gaze to Edgeworth, who sighed.

"Wright, I cannot believe you've based this entire scheme on unfounded faith in a children's movie-" he began. He was stopped by the sudden appearance of, of all people, _Maya_.

"Nick!" she exclaimed happily. "Mr. Edgeworth! Hey, you made it off the ship okay, that's great! Here, hold this, would you?" And she tossed something at Edgeworth, who fumbled to catch it, before darting out of sight behind the great big rock.

"Those were not her normal robes," Phoenix murmured as he manoeuvred himself between the horse and the prosecutor.

"Your observational skills never cease to astound me," Edgeworth muttered back as he nervously eyed the natives approaching from all sides. One of them dragged Maya out from her hiding place.

Edgeworth hastily threw the heavy- carving?- back to her.

She threw it back.

He threw it back.

She threw it back, Wright ducked behind him, and it glanced off his head. He hissed in pain and went back to nervously glancing at the natives out of the corner of his eye. "Wright," he said softly. "I don't think this is going to end well."

"I'm sorry about that girl in Barcelona," came the reply.

Edgeworth twisted to stare at Phoenix. "But you've never even _been_ to-"

He was cut off abruptly as a cheer went up from the natives, who herded them ceremoniously forward with rather a lot of cheering. Maya followed close behind the horse.

"Miles," Phoenix said thoughtfully. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but- are they _actually_ hailing us as gods?"

----

"They.. do seem to be," Edgeworth replied cautiously after a moment. One of the men gestured them forward with a spear, very definitely not needing any sort of translation. The implied 'follow' was more than clear enough.

Once again, Edgeworth had to question whether the laws of physics were still in effect as he, Phoenix, Maya, someone's purebred stallion- he paused to wonder about the probability of horse theft charges- and several natives all crammed into one small boat.

His first sight of El Dorado was admittedly breathtaking. The legendary city was open and inviting, clean in a way Los Angeles had never been, and light glinted off gold at every turn. Beside him, Phoenix twisted about to stare at everything in wonder, utterly enthralled.

The boat docked and they all climbed out to stand at the edge of the city, where seemingly all the inhabitants had gathered and were now gaping at them and pointing and talking to one another in hushed voices.

Edgeworth listened carefully, ignoring the way Phoenix had suddenly taken to clutching at his sleeve. The nuances of the language weren't quite the same as he was used to, but for whatever reason the natives _did_ seem to speak a bastardized form of Spanish and he was thankful at least one of them understood the language.

"They want you to prove you're gods!" Maya said brightly as she edged in between Phoenix and Altivo. "The chief's daughter wanted me to, too, but I guess the men don't like the idea of female gods."

Well. Two of them understood the language, then. He felt rather bad for Phoenix, and turned to him to make an offer to translate, but was greeted by the site of Phoenix clutching the magatama around his neck and gazing about wide-eyed.

"Don't tell me that thing works as a translation device, too," Miles muttered.

"Not exactly," Phoenix replied. "It's helping me get the gist of what they're saying, though."

"Lovely. I don't suppose it would also tell you how, exactly, we are to go about proving we're gods?" Edgeworth eyed the natives in agitation.

"Actually, it's giving me an idea," Phoenix said brightly, and added something to Maya in an undertone that Edgeworth didn't quite catch. "I need to borrow your coat, though."

Grudgingly, Miles pulled off his coat and handed it to his friend. Wright proceeded to whirl it dramatically over Maya while shouting something that sounded impressive but was almost certainly gibberish. When the coat fell away again Maya's body had made the change it always did when she was channelling her older sister, spurring a gasp from the crowd.

-

Phoenix gave a tiny bow, not lowering his eyes, and straightened again with a grin and a flourish. "Behold! We, the gods, have the power to change one's shape!"

"Phoenix," Miles murmured, glancing anxiously at the natives. "Little voice? Speaks up about going too far? I'm well aware you ignore it in court, but-"

The defense attorney ignored it now, as well. "Cross us, and you may well find yourself turned into…into…uh… into an armadillo!"

Mia, who was assessing the situation she'd been thrust into much more rapidly than Miles would have had he been in her situation, chuckled at that. Phoenix had the grace to look embarrassed as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sounded better in my head," he murmured, for their ears only, before raising his voice. "Now behold! As my companion, Lord Edgeworth, changes her form- _back!"_

Anticipating this, Edgeworth already had his coat ready to flourish back over Maya, and by the time he put it back on she had ceased channelling.

Two of the men stepped forward as the lawyers and Maya waved to the city's massed population, Edgeworth feeling a surge of apprehension as they did so.

"I am Chief Russel Berry," the first man, who was rather round and jolly-looking and exuded friendliness in much the same way Phoenix did.

"And I," snarled a second and ridiculously short man, pushing himself forward to shoulder roughly past the Chief, "Am Trilo Quist, High Priest and Speaker for the Gods." He cast an appraising and searching gaze over them as a thin and harried-looking man scurried up and fell into place behind him. An acolyte, maybe? Or an assistant? Trilo Quist's eyes lit on Maya and he smiled grimly. "I see, my lords, that you have caught this temple-robbing thief!" He sprang forward and caught Maya by the arm.

Instinctively, Phoenix grabbed her other arm and hauled her safely back. He looked at Edgeworth frantically.

"She is no thief," Edgeworth said loudly, letting the words drop into the silence that had come over the crowd when Phoenix grabbed Maya's arm. "She had been sent a vision, a vision from the gods, to greet us and to bring proof that she was truly of El Dorado."

"If you are… certain, my Lord," the High Priest said after a moment. "Then come, let me show you to your temple."

"All right," Phoenix murmured to Edgeworth. "Temple!"

Maya high-fived him as Edgeworth shook his head and sighed. The three of them followed the Chief and High Priest up a small eternity of stairs to the top of the city's highest temple, and when he caught his breath at the top Miles reflected ruefully that it was probably all the bike riding Wright did to get everywhere, and all the walking he and Maya both did, that caused the two of them to be in much better shape than the prosecutor.

The two men in charge of the city then bowed themselves out and left Edgeworth, Maya, and Phoenix to gape at the temple.

There was gold _everywhere._

While that was to be expected, really, in the City of Gold, the effect was still overwhelming. Phoenix ran his hands lightly over the gold veining in the walls (how had they _done that?) and gazed around in wonder. Maya, who had been here before if the stand she replaced the gold carving on was any indication. As soon as she'd done that she flopped down on a pillow and sighed contentedly. _


	9. But I'm A Defense Attorney!

**Disclaimer: **There is angst ahead! Incoming!

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**009: But I'm A Defense Attorney!

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**_Prompt: Let's see parents who totally reject Nick's relationship with Miles.

* * *

_

It had never actually occurred to Phoenix that coming out to his parents could be a bad idea. After all, they had always been loving and supportive, even when he'd switched so abruptly into law- and it wasn't like he could have _hidden_ it, he couldn't even lie to _himself_ properly, much less anyone else.

Now, looking at his parent's ashen faces, it dawned on him that there may have been some things they would not agree with. He started to have doubts when they didn't speak immediately. He started feeling betrayed when they started asking, slowly and cautiously, as though he had perhaps suffered a blow to the head, questions like _How do you know?_ and _What did we do wrong?_ and _What will the neighbors think?_, of all things, and perhaps most hurtful of all- _Why did you have to tell us?_

"How could I _not_ tell you?" Phoenix asked, bewildered. "It's part of who I am-"

And that, unfortunately, set off an entirely new barrage of questions, and veiled accusations, and started his mother crying. Frankly, he didn't understand.

_There is nothing wrong with me,_ Phoenix thought, as his mother excused herself in tears and fled the room and his father, with a last glare at Phoenix, followed her out. _There is nothing wrong with me! _

He had never planned for this scenario, because he had never expected this scenario. His parents had always been open and loving before- what had changed? _He_ hadn't changed. But he hadn't thought that they had, either. Phoenix stayed on the couch a very long time, eventually opting to move outside where- well, we would have slept in his car, had he had one, rather than inside. Since he didn't have a car and the weather was nice he made himself comfortable in the hammock. Not that he could sleep; he did try, if only because he knew very well he'd pay for it in the morning, but he was unable to sleep. At least, he told himself, he knew his friends accepted him- Maya, and Edgeworth, and Gumshoe all knew, and none of _them_ had had a problem.

_There's nothing wrong with me…!_

That thought, repeating through his head all night, was what he fell asleep to in the early hours of the morning and what he woke to after far too little sleep. When he stirred and glanced up, his father was standing beside the hammock, looking stern.

_Well, that explains what woke me._ "Why are you out here, Dad?" Phoenix asked tiredly. He was surprised, in a distant sort of way, that his emotions all felt… muted, now. As if the notion that his parents did _not_ accept a part of who he was had expanded and left no room for anything but shock and a lingering hurt.

"Why did you sleep out here?" his father replied sternly.

"Because I didn't feel welcome inside." He tried very, very hard to keep the snarl from his voice, but from the flash of anger in his father's eyes he supposed he hadn't succeeded.

Mr. Wright clearly chose to ignore that comment. "Your mother and I have been talking."

If there was a more ominous phrase than that in the English language, Phoenix had yet to hear it.

His father cleared his throat. "We think it would be best if you attended this retreat. It's a place in the mountains near here, and their reputation for curing people of this affliction is-"

Phoenix had jerked out of his seat (no mean feat, in a hammock) and glared at his dad for all he was worth. "I don't need to be cured, Dad, I'm not sick!" And, horribly, even as he said it he could see in his father's eyes that his parents did not believe that. His voice failed him for a moment and then shook slightly as he continued. "And if you choose to believe otherwise, then fine. Fine. I'm _not _sick, there is _nothing_ wrong with me, and I'm going to leave now. I've got friends and a boyfriend who love me and I'm going home to them." With that, he got up and shoved past his father, tears blurring with eyes that was _absolutely not going to shed_ as he half-walked and half-ran from the yard and then broke out into a sprint. If he hurried he could catch the early bus back to home, back to Miles, back to Maya, and back to people who had no problems with who he was- or at least, none that couldn't be easily resolved.

Someday, if he was lucky, he could come back here. Until then, he'd have to make do with the family they'd all cobbled together, back home. That wouldn't be too hard, he told himself. They all loved each other and were open and accepting- he doubted he had anything to tell the others that would ever make them abandon him, and he knew they couldn't possibly tell him anything to make _him_ abandon _them. _

That was good, because right now, as he caught the bus quickly and looked out the window to see that neither of parents had even attempted to follow him, he was feeling very abandoned.


	10. Waits For You

**Disclaimer:** I like music. You should know this if you've read, oh, anything I've written ever. I blame my parents and the influence of gathering around a campfire to sing several times a year. Try it kids, it's fun!

* * *

**010: Waits For You

* * *

**

_Prompt: Something based on the song 'Vienna' by Billy Joel, featuring Edgeworth. Well, the prompt was something like that, anyway._

* * *

Wright had to be doing this intentionally.

Every day, without fail, for two weeks now, at least once a day and sometimes as often as three times, Edgeworth had intruded on Wright singing the same song.

"Slow down you crazy child, you're so ambitious for a juvenile… but then if you're so smart tell me why are you still so afraid?"

Wright had it playing in his office. Wright had it playing in his apartment. Wright was sprawled on the floor of his office teaching it to Maya when he _should_ have been seeing about getting a case.

"Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? You better cool it off before you burn it out! You got so much to do and only so many hours in a day!"

Wright was apparently teaching it to _all_ their mutual acquaintances, because Gumshoe was singing it under his breath nearly every time Edgeworth saw him.

"But you know that when the truth is told that you can get what you want… or you can just get old."

Wright was driving him utterly _mad._

"You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through When will you realize…"

He kept it up for two months. Edgeworth counted.

It took him that long to reconcile what Wright was _saying_ with what he _meant_.

"…_...Vienna waits for you."

* * *

_**Guardian: **There is now a part of me which wants to do this to someone. Damn.


	11. When I Die

**Disclaimer: **I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a while. I'm now really terribly addicted to tea, even more than I already was. This has nothing to do with anything.

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**011: When I Die, I Wanna Be A Poltergeist

* * *

**

_This goes with the next story. Basically, someone requested some Manfred and Gregory with a side of Bon Jovi's Shot Through The Heart, and since there are two songs people commonly mistake for each other with that line I went ahead and did both. _

* * *

Manfred von Karma was not, under normal circumstances, a particularly superstitious person.

However, this was getting to be a bit much.

He twisted the dial on the radio back to a classical station and went back to reading the novel he'd been enjoying previously. It was only a few minutes before it happened again, and this time, peering over the hardcover book, he _saw_ the dial moving without anyone touching it.

Pachelbel's canon abruptly gave way to something entirely different. Though full of static, it was still clear enough to be made out. "_Shot through the heart, and you're to blame! You give love… a bad name!"_

Disgruntled, he returned to his book without changing the channel. The blasted thing kept changing _back_, after all.

"_I play my part and you play your game! You give love a bad name, bad name! And you give love a bad name!"_

He scowled at the radio. It was making it damned hard to concentrate. He'd been re-reading the same sentence since he turned it on, it seemed.

"_You paint your smile on your lips! Blood red nails on your fingertips! A school boy's dream, you act so shy- your very first kiss was your first kiss goodbye! Oh... you're a loaded gun!" _

His hand snapped out and twisted the radio knobs furiously. There was another moment of static, then a moment of silence, then the radio roared back to life with the volume cranked way up. _"__Sometimes I feel I've got to run away I've got to get away, from the pain that you drive into the heart of me!" _

He growled and got up, intending to leave the radio behind where it could no longer bother him. Perhaps it was time to end his "vacation," anyway.

As he turned away, the radio suddenly crackled into silence and he was struck with an idea.

_Perhaps I should pay a visit to his son.

* * *

_

**Guardian: **Re: outdated technology: Hey, I just got a walkman. It's plausible. _  
_


	12. Welcome To The Afterlife

**012. Welcome to the Afterlife, May I Take Your Coat?

* * *

**

_Continuation of previous story. _

* * *

Fifteen years and a little more later, Manfred von Karma found himself in an entirely unexpected situation for the first time in his life.

Well. Not in his _life_, per se.

Music was rising out of the darkness that surrounded him on all sides. This was far too clichéd and contrived for his liking.

"_Would you be content to see me crying? After all those little games you put me through? After all I've done for you you're lying- wouldn't it be nice to tell the truth?" _

He was not playing into this insipid little game. He was not doing this.

He didn't appear to have a choice.

"_Didn't somebody somewhere say you're gonna take a fall? I gave you everything, now here's the curtain call…" _

Manfred folded his arms and stayed stubbornly in place. He had an idea of what was going on, and damned if he wasn't going to make the other man come to him instead of the other way around.

"_Shot! Through the heart as I lay there alone in the dark, through the heart, it's all part of this game that we call love!" _

"No," Manfred said stiffly to the blackness. "No, it is not."

The dark parted in front of him like a curtain and Gregory Edgeworth stepped out, one hand outstretched as he arched an eyebrow at his rival.

Slowly, grudgingly, Manfred reached out and shook it. He dropped the other man's hand with distaste as fast as he could, though. "What are you doing here?" he ground out.

"_Now you've come back here to say you're sorry… but I don't know who you're talking to! It could be the man I used to be, girl- but I've grown up and now I'm over you!" _

Gregory shrugged and leaned back, lacing his hands behind his back. "I was sent to greet you. It's a 'Hi, so you're dead, welcome to the afterlife' deal they have here." He grinned a little. "So hi, you're dead, welcome to the afterlife, up for reincarnation?"

"As what?" Manfred snarled, unnerved his rival would taunt him even now. "What creature would you have planned for me, after what I did to Mi- your son?"

Something strange and indecipherable flickered through Gregory's eyes. "You raised him."

"I spent fifteen years on this reve- what." The emotion dropped from his voice in shock.

"You raised him," Gregory repeated. "You never did get that revenge. He has Phoenix and his friends now to help him where you fell. And regardless of your reasons… you _did_ raise him."

"For revenge!" For a moment he was filled with rage that this man, his rival, would _ever_ think he'd had any sort of altruistic intentions in raising his son.

"_Standing there just a live wi~re, with nowhere left to turn you were gonna set the world on fi~re! When will you ever learn?" _

"Which was never realized," Gregory reminded him with infuriating calm. "Everyone gets a second chance once they've made it here, von Karma. You may not have looked after him the way _I _wanted to-" -_there _was that flash of anger, at last- "But you saw that he was looked after. So you're here. So it was decided, you get a second chance. Are you taking it?"

He held his hand out again.

"_Shot! Through the heart as I lay there alone in the dark, through the heart, it's all part of this game that we call love!" _

von Karma took it.


	13. Rescue Me

**Disclaimer:** I think the Jak and Daxter game series stole my soul. I think they can have it. I think they're gonna have to fight the Final Fantasy and Ace Attorney series for it, though.

* * *

**013: Rescue Me**

* * *

_Can I get a fic where a PW charrie is being abused by their boy/girlfriend, the people around them noticing and everyone trying their hardest to convince the other party that it's not what love's about? Of course, the person in said relationship denies everything._

* * *

Larry cracked one eye open as his roommate stumbled into his room. He wasn't really concerned; sure it was late, but Nick came wandering in late at least a few nights a week.

At least, he wasn't concerned until he actually got a good _look_ at his buddy.

"Dude…!" Larry exclaimed.

Phoenix started guiltily, looking up from where he'd been rummaging as quietly as possible through a desk. He was sporting a black eye that definitely hadn't been there that morning.

"Uh," he said. "H-hi, Larry."

"Hi yourself," Larry retorted, swinging himself out of bed. "Damn, Nick, what happened this time?"

Looking away and fidgeting with his sleeve, Phoenix stammered again. Larry wasn't sure anymore, but he didn't think Nick had stammered between when they were kids and when he met Dahlia. At least, not this much.

"I… walked into a lamppost," Phoenix mumbled, not meeting Larry's eyes.

"Um, dude?" Larry put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Just so you know? I'm not _that_ dumb."

"It's nothing," Phoenix insisted, brushing off Larry's concern. "Don't worry about it."

He continued to ignore Larry's fumbled attempts at fishing for information for not only the rest of the night, but the rest of the month as well.

Some nights it was worse than others. Some nights Phoenix only came home a little late, a little dishevelled, and a little depressed.

Other nights he came home with livid bruises on his arms that he did his best to keep hidden under that horrible sweater.

About a month and a half later, Larry was getting bandages for a cut on Phoenix's arm. Phoenix kept insisting he'd slipped and cut himself with an X- Acto knife. "This isn't healthy, Nick. I mean, if even I'm noticing…" Larry gave his friend a weak grin, hoping to get through to him.

"S'fine," Phoenix replied, not looking at Larry. "She doesn't mean to."

Apparently he'd at least dropped the X-Acto knife story. "It… kinda happens a lot for it to be accidental, man."

Changing tactics, Phoenix said defensively, "And you let all your girlfriends treat you like a doormat. I don't get on your case."

Larry threw up his hands. "That's _different_, dude! None of them ever _hit_ me! None of them ever said anything _like_ some of the stuff Dahlia says to you…" And there Larry trailed off, eyes wide, because he wasn't supposed to know any of what Dahlia said to Phoenix. As far as Phoenix knew, Larry had always avoided being around them together, at Phoenix's own request.

…But damn it, he'd been getting _worried_.

So all right, he'd broken a promise. He'd eavesdropped a few times. He'd heard Dahlia say some pretty horrible things to Phoenix- like that he was lucky she'd found him attractive because surely no one else would have, or that he wasn't really worth her time but she'd overlook that at least for now, or a few more comments that made Larry uneasy to even recall.

"She's apparently the only one I can _trust_," Phoenix flung at him, before storming out the door.

Larry winced.

All right, so he _wasn't _the best or brightest. He was a damn good artist and that was about it. He knew that; he'd known that all along.

Phoenix, though? Phoenix had the start of something great going. He'd been doing really well at studying law. He'd liked it.

He'd started slacking on it recently, when Dahlia began telling him that he was only really good at art, and he'd begun believing every word that came out of her mouth.

Sure, Larry tended to let girlfriends walk all over him. He'd do almost any favour they asked. But- there was a line, and he knew not to cross it. Phoenix was _way _the hell past that line here.

And Larry didn't have a damn clue what to do about it.

He knew Phoenix sent Edgey letters all the time, though. He knew Phoenix _never_ proofread them. He started sneaking postscripts of his own on them before they were sent, in the hope that maybe they actually did reach Edgey and maybe he did remember his old friends and maybe he'd care. He didn't know what else to _do_, and Phoenix was sleeping more and yet had huge dark circles under his eyes, and the least bit of praise from anyone at all made him look at them uncertainly like he was waiting for the punch line.

Phoenix would turn his back and ignore his friend at any negative comment about Dahlia.

Eventually Phoenix moved out of the shared dorm room and started ignoring Larry.

In the end, it took a murder trial for Phoenix to start listening to Larry again.

In the end, it was years later before Edgeworth even opened those letters.

It was years later when Phoenix came home after a long file and found Miles sitting at his desk, reading and re-reading old and yellowed letters.

"Phoenix," he said in greeting. He sounded a little more subdued than usual.

"Hey," Phoenix said, rubbing the back of his head. "Look, I'm exhausted, so I'm just gonna go to sleep-"

"Phoenix," Edgeworth interrupted him. He held up one of the letters and gestured at the postscript. "Please… explain this."

Eyebrows knotting- if those were the letters he _thought_ they were, he didn't remember writing any postscripts- Phoenix put a hand on Edgeworth's shoulder and leaned over him to read.

_P.s.- Edgey_, was scrawled in childish handwriting. Phoenix felt his stomach sink.

_hay its larry, look I dunno if you even read this but nick s in trouble. hes in a really bad relashunship wit a girl who treats him really bad. plz help, I dunno how but he wont listen to me and I think hes gonna get hurt. _

_pps he had a black eye the other nite._

Craning his head back so he could look Phoenix in the face, Edgeworth said quietly, "They all say something along these lines, Phoenix."

"Oh," Phoenix replied, still rather stunned that Dahlia could come back and slap him in the face even now. Maybe not literally anymore, but still. "It's… I… it happened a long time ago, Edgeworth." He couldn't meet his lover's eyes.

"Phoenix," Miles said sternly, and raised an eyebrow when Phoenix flinched at the tone. "Not long enough ago, apparently." His tone softening, he stood up briefly so that he could turn around and hug Phoenix. For the first time he realised there may have been a darker reason than he'd previously supposed for the way Phoenix shivered whenever Miles touched him. "You didn't deserve any of that."

Still not meeting Miles' eyes, Phoenix didn't reply.

Miles hugged him tighter briefly, but loosened his grip when Phoenix tensed. "You never deserved any of that," he repeated. "You're… one of the best people I've ever had the benefit of knowing, Phoenix."

It took a long time and a lot of coaxing and eventually, even some further help from Larry Butz, but one day when he told Phoenix that Phoenix finally believed him.


	14. Let The Feathers Fly

**Disclaimer:** I like everyone. Also! I'm not doin' the thing where I write in every prompt anymore. It's too much of a hassle and it makes me procrastinate on updates. If it was your request and you really really want it up here, lemme know and I'll put it in. Also I can't remember what I named this one so it got a new name.

* * *

**014: Let The Feathers Fly**

* * *

It was a completely unprovoked attack. Here Apollo had been minding his own business, perfectly content to make himself comfortable on Klavier's couch for the night- as well as he got along with Trucy and Mr. Wright, he honestly didn't think he could take another minute of bickering and he vowed to never again disbelieve complaints about teenagers being difficult- and he had been _assaulted._

Klavier hit him with the pillow again.

"Mr. Gavin!" His voice came out a lot squeakier than he had intended. He should really see about a refund on those Chords of Steel tape.

"Yes, Herr Forehead?" Klavier replied, and somehow managed to sound completely innocent despite the pillow he was holding and the smug smile in his eyes. He wasn't even bothering to _hide_ the damn thing.

"What are you _doing_?" Apollo asked in exasperation, and thankfully he had he foresight to yank his own pillow over his head as a shield as Klavier tried to smack him again.

The prosecutor had feather pillows. Apollo wished he could be surprised.

"Having a pillow fight, ja?"

Apollo made the mistake of lowering his makeshift shield to stare incredulously at the other man. Klavier took advantage and hit him over the head with a pillow again.

Without thinking about it, Apollo hit him back.

He grinned. Infuriatingly, he grinned. "_Now_ you're getting it, Forehead!"

"I am _not_ 'getting it!' There's nothing to 'get!'" Apollo groaned and tried not to hit Klavier with a pillow out of spite.

"Too old for pillow fights, I see," Klavier said mock-sadly. "Herr Wright led me to believe this but I'm afraid I was not convinced." He shook his head, tossing his hair back, and Apollo tried very hard not to find that terribly distracting.

He failed, because he didn't see the next blow coming and fell sideways across the couch instead of rising like he'd intended. He groaned deliberately and Klavier dropped to his knees beside the couch, concerned.

"Herr Forehead?" When this didn't get a reply, he said, more sharply, "Apollo?"

"Gotcha!" Apollo lunged forward and caught the prosecutor in a headlock. "And oh, Mr. Gavin… _you're older than me._"

And he proceeded to _beat_ Klavier with the damn pillow.

Moments later, there was a ripping sound and feathers went flying through the air. The two lawyers froze and stared at each other.

Then Klavier shrugged, tossed the pillowcase he was now holding aside, and tackled Apollo instead. They missed the couch by inches and slammed into the floor instead.

"OW!" Apollo wheezed, trying to catch his breath, as Klavier calmly folded his arms beneath himself and rested them against Apollo's chest. Then he laid his head on his arms and grinned victoriously at the now-trapped Apollo.

"…Mr. Gav…"

"Klavier."

"Klavier." Apollo tried to sit up and push the other attorney off. He failed miserably; Klavier only shifted his weight a little and smiled smugly and Apollo stayed pinned. "I thought…The point…. was for me to finally get some _sleep._ Here. Where it's supposed to be… to be quiet. And peaceful. And…" Apollo trailed off. He thought about that a moment. Then he sighed. "…Mr. Wright set me up for this. Didn't he."

"…Yes. Yes he did." And Klavier inched his way slowly up Apollo's chest, idly stroking Apollo's sides as he went, and Apollo shivered and was not as surprised as he would have liked to claim when Klavier kissed him.

Of course, the kissing _back_ probably let Klavier know this anyway, but Apollo figured he could worry about that later.


End file.
